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AN 
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 



OF THE 



Dependent, Defective and 
Delinquent Classes 



BY 



CHARLES RICHMOND HENDERSON, A.M., D.D. 

ROFESSOR OF SOCIAL Sdl 

University of Chicago 



Assistant Professor of Social Science in the 



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BOSTON, U.S.A. 

D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY 

1893 



B noy. 




Copyright, 1893 
By CHARLES R. HENDERSON 



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PREFACE 



We discuss here the subject of the Dependent, Defective and 
Delinquent Classes as a part of sociology. Why? Evidently 
because there is no place for them in any of the special sciences 
which deal with social phenomena. Indispensable as are the 
results of economic science, the social treatment of these classes 
involves elements far transcending the range of economics under 
its most liberal definitions. Ethical science and philosophy are 
essential in this inquiry, but the word "ought" has not much to 
do with idiots or with Lombroso's " L'Uomo Delinquente " of the 
lowest stratum. Political machinery must be invoked, but state- 
craft waits for the theoretical issues of several sciences and for 
the organization of personal philanthropy to make its efforts 
effectual in helping pauper and criminal. 

Who are these Dependents, Defectives and Delinquents? 
Anthropology and historic sociology declare that they are " out- 
cast " survivals of an imperfect past race, living out of their time 
in a civilization to which they are not adjusted, or degenerate 
offspring of an injured and a defeated stock, or examples of an 
arrested development, unfit to endure the strain of modern com- 
petition. And yet they are brethren of a common race, in whom 
are latent powers akin to those of the highest. In the region of 
religion we discover the rational ideals of social treatment of 
these forlorn "children of Ishmael," while economic science gives 
the industrial laws, morality orders the rules of conduct, political 
and legal science advise in respect to the agencies of govern - 
ment. Since all science and all arts must contribute, and since 
each alone is defective though necessary, a new science must be 
invoked to harmonize and direct to an adequate action. This 
science, youngest of all, is called "Sociology," The progress of 

iii 



IV PREFACE. 

the other sciences has made its appearance inevitable and neces- 
sary, just as the development of the banking system has called 
forth the Clearing House of the metropolitan centers. 

This book is the fruit of twenty years and more of study and 
experience and lecturing on the subjects treated. The contents 
have been substantially presented and tested in class work. 

The writer believes that in form and contents it is suitable for 
a text book in college and University work, for clubs of women 
or men seriously engaged in the study of social problems, for 
ministers who are perplexed by difficult questions in parish work, 
and are seeking light to give on the topics here offered, and for 
directors of many kinds of charities in city and state. It may be 
used as the basis of correspondence studies for those who wish to 
keep in close relation with University life, while busy with the 
exacting duties of church or business. 

My honored friend, Rev. Oscar McCulloch, called the National 
Conference of Charities and Corrections the "Church of the 
Divine Fragments." This book is offered as a janitor or verger 
to guide visitors about the place made holy by suffering and 
philanthropy. 

And here I may set down with gratitude a few among many 
names of persons to whom I am indebted for help and inspira- 
tion in this study : Rev. G. W. Northrup, D.D., LL.D., one of 
the first teachers of theology to introduce these subjects into the 
theological seminary ; Rev. H. L. Wayland, D.D., also my 
teacher and counsellor; Hon. F. Wayland, LL.D.; Hon. W. P. 
Letchworth; Mr. C. D. Kellogg of New York; Mr. N. S. 
Rosenau; Rev. F. H. Wines; A. MacDonald, Ph.D.; Mr. Joseph 
Nicholson, Superintendent of Detroit House of Correction ; Hon. 
A. G. Porter, who aided me in inquiries in Rome. To name all 
would be impossible ; but I thank those who have through many 
years counselled and helped me with knowledge and with practi- 
cal aid in connection with causes that lay heavy on my heart. 

The encouragement of President W. R. Harper and of my 
genial colleague and Head Professor, A. W. Small, Ph.D., has 
been an element too important to leave unmentioned. 



PREFACE. V 

I acknowledge here my obligations to members of various 
boards with whom I have been associated as Director ; and 
especially the Directors of the Rose Orphan Home and Charity 
Organization Society of Terre Haute, Indiana ; the Directors of 
the Detroit Association of Charities, and of the Michigan Home of 
Industry for Discharged Prisoners (and "Mother" D'Arcambal 
with them), the Councils of the various Charities of Detroit. 

I have indicated what I regard the most important works for 
the study of these subjects. "The Reader's Guide" (Putnams) 
will direct to other literature, and the bibliographies in such 
works as R. M. Smith on "Emigration and Immigration," and 
MacDonald on "Criminology" will give exhaustive lists in their 
special lines. For the use of others than specialists such biblio- 
graphies are not helpful. General readers must have selected 
lists. Most of the books named are in public libraries. In small 
communities a book club can be formed for the purchase of the 
necessary material for study. Specific personal direction can be 
had by correspondence with the University Extension Depart- 
ment of the University of Chicago, and the methods employed by 
them greatly facilitate such study. The work is conducted by 
the instructors in the University. 

The University of Chicago, May, 1893. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS, 



PART I. — DEPENDENTS, ESPECIALLY IN THE 
UNITED STATES. 



Introduction. The aim, method and inspiration of this study, I 

Chapter I. Definitions 5 

Chapter II. Sources of Knowledge : Observation, repre- 
sentation in art, records, statistics, special sciences, ... 6 

Chapter III. Interest and importance of the subject. The 
material and moral cost of these classes, 10 

Chapter IV. Classification and social affiliations, . . 13 

Chapter V. On the study of typical cases, . . . .15 

Chapter VI. Causes of Dependency : Heredity, Environ- 
ment and Personal Reaction, . . . . . . . .' 17 

Chapter VII. General principles relating to the treatment of 
Dependency. The governing social ideal, — breadth and compre- 
hensiveness ; order of analysis and study, 33 

Chapter VIII. The Grounds of State aid. Theoretical and 
practical objections ; arguments in favor of State Help, . . 35 

Chapter IX. State Charities : Outdoor Relief. Historical 
and comparative ; arguments for and against ; practical conclu- 
sion ; principles of administration, 38 

Chapter X. Medical Charities : hospitals ; out-patients ; dis- 
pensaries ; city physicians ; training schools for nurses ; boards of 
health, 46 

Chapter XI. The County Poor House ; principles of manage- 
ment ; classification ; categories of inspection, . . . .50 

vii 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

Chapter XII. Homeless Dependents : enforced idleness ; the 
tramp, 54 

Chapter XIII. Voluntary Charities: individual; benevolent 
relief societies ; church charities ; endowed charities ; state control 
of voluntary charities, . ... . . . . .58 

Chapter XIV. Charity Organization : municipal associations ; 
state boards ; national bureau of information, . . . .63 

Chapter XV. Care of Dependent Children: foundlings; 
children in the county poor house : asylums ; placing-out ; Mr. 
Letchworth's Seventeen Propositions, 69 



PART II.— DEFECTIVES. 



Chapter XVI. The Insane : definitions ; statistics ; causes 
forms ; administration of relief ; popular notions ; legal status ; the 
criminal insane ; the insane drunkard, ..... 

Chapter XVII. The Feeble Minded: statistics; character 
istics ; classes ; methods of care ; results, .... 

Chapter XVIII. Epileptics, Dements and Paralytics, . 

Chapter XIX. The Blind and the Deaf Mutes, . . 



PART II I. —CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 



78 

92 
97 
99 



Chapter XX. Classification of Criminals : Law and Morals ; 
definitions ; political, occasional, habitual, professional and in- 
stinctive criminals ; Dugdale's classification, . . . .102 

Chapter XXI. Crime Causes : Crime, biological and social 
factors ; the personal will of criminals, . . . . .ill 

Chapter XXII. Criminal Anthropology ; Physical. Outline of 
methods and results claimed. Lombroso's view considered, .118 



CONTENTS. IX 

Chapter XXIII. Criminal Anthropology : Psychical, . .125 

Chapter XXIV. Criminal Anthropology : Social Elements ; 
sex ; vice ; professional ; insanity ; association ; suggestion 
(hypnotism), . . . 136 

Chapter XXV. Social Treatment of the Criminal : Historical ; 
savage and barbarian ; Hebrew ; Roman ; Teutonic ; English ; 
Modern, . . . 141 

Chapter XXVI. Social Action Anticipating Crime : Modern ; 
definitions of jurisdiction ; powers of judges ; law of arrests ; 
crimes in law ; rights of children ; receivers of stolen goods ; minor 
offenses, . . . . . . .... 182 

Chapter XXVII. The Criminal in the Hands of Justice ; the 
modern doctrine of the end of punishment ; the estimate of obsolete 
penalties ; the outline of a prison system for the United States ; the 
English System and the Elmira System compared, . . .194 

Chapter XXVIII. Preventive Measures Against Crime : identi- 
fication and registration, — Bertillon system ; discharged prisoners' 
aid ; substitutes for arrest and imprisonment ; juvenile delinquents ; 
cutting off immigration ; education of the police in preventive 
methods ; public opinion, 224 



PART IV.— SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 



Chapter XXIX. Population and Territory : normal and patho- 
logical conditions ; remedies, - 232 

Chapter XXX. Economical Organs and Functions ; industrial 
health and disease ; remedies, — Utopian and practicable. Social- 
ism. Old Age Pensions ; insurance ; cooperation ; governmental 
and voluntary efforts to promote general welfare ; extension of state 
action ; industrial education ; provident schemes ; employment 
bureaus, and councils of justice, ....... 237 

Chapter XXXI. Domestic Relations : social and abnormal ; 
remedial. The Home as an agency of social progress,. . .251 



X CONTENTS. 

Chapter XXXII. Institutions of Culture : Schools, Press, 
Clubs. Perils, maladies and remedial forces, ..... 256 

Chapter XXXIII. Institutions for Promoting Social Welfare . 258 

Chapter XXXIV. Political Organization in relation to Social 
Disorder, . . . . . . . . . . .261 

Chapter XXXV. The Institution of Social Ideals: the 
churches ; their relation to philanthropy ; the end of dogmatic 
authority of ecclesiastics and the new era of moral power ; hopes 
and prospects ; conclusion, ........ 264 



Abbreviations. The only abbreviated forms necessary to explain 
are N. C. C. (Reports of National Conference of Charities and Correc- 
tions) and N. P. A. (Reports of National Prison Association). 



DEPENDENT, 
DEFECTIVE AND DELINQUENT 

CLASSES 



INTRODUCTION. 



" Masses indeed : and yet, singular to say, if, with an effort of 
imagination, thou follow them, over broad France into their clay hovels, 
into their garrets and hutches, the masses consist all of units. Every 
unit of whom has his own heart and sorrows ; stands covered there with 
his own skin, and if you . . . prick him, he will bleed." . . . 

Dreary, languid do these struggle in their obscure remoteness, their 
hearth cheerless, their diet thin. For them in this world rises no Era of 
Hope. . . . Untaught, uncomforted, unfed. . . . Especially it 
is an old truth, that wherever huge physical evil is, there, as the parent 
and origin of it, has moral evil to a proportionate extent been." — 
Carlyle. 

i. The Aim of this Course. — It is not possible to give 
full instruction and training for administrative offices in 
institutions of charity by means of lectures. Nurses of the 
sick, physicians to the insane, and secretaries of charity 
organizations must find their discipline in the actual work 
of their offices and in special schools for technical prepara- 
tion. It is here our effort and aim to give educated leaders 
of society such a method of study and such codified results 
of past study and experience that they may think effectively 
and act wisely. Those who shape and direct public 
opinion, and who are inspired by philanthropic purpose, 



2 INTRODUCTION. 

need the outlook of sociological methods of regarding these 
complicated and difficult problems. While experts can not 
be fully prepared by class work and books, they may receive 
in this way a more scientific direction than if they are con- 
fined to the discipline of daily experience in some particular 
institution. 

2. Method. — The material of our study lies scattered in 
many books and reports and pamphlets. We shall here 
attempt to state in the most condensed form possible the 
elements of the subject, and the most important received 
conclusions of the most reliable authorities, with somewhat 
full bibliography for future readings on special points. We 
profess to give nothing more than an introductory essay on 
a subject of w r orld - wide interest. An indexed note book 
may well be used to gather facts and reasonings, and keep 
them in accessible form for use. It is wise for a stu- 
dent to make an inventory of his own knowledge of this 
subject before he enters the field. One must proceed from 
his known to the less known and the unknown. 

3. Personal Interest. — Progress will be promoted by ask- 
ing oneself : Why should I take up this difficult and some- 
times repulsive theme ? What" are the sources of personal 
interest in this mournful subject ? Let no one enter here 
who is not prepared to meet difficulties of many kinds. 

A sustaining purpose of high order is required for the 
study of dependency, because a thorough knowledge de- 
mands of us that we submit our senses of sight, hearing, 
and smell to very disagreeable phenomena. Investigation 
cannot be entirely by proxy. Mr. Booth prepared himself 
for his great work on East London by taking lodgings 
among the people whose life and labors he determined to 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

know and reveal. Mr. McDonald's recent book on Crim- 
inology is enriched by illustrations gathered from prisoners 
in their cells. Indignation, disgust and pity succeed each 
other. Sympathy is pain. The subject is full of intellec- 
tual difficulties. One must expect to meet disappointments. 
There is no ready-made solution of these problems. If 
careful thinking and' boundless self-denial could remove 
pauperism, the world ere this time would not contain a 
beggar. 

But if one is fond of knotty questions that put thought 
to strain ; if horrors fascinate the philanthropic disposition ; 
if there is much of the " mind that was in Christ Jesus," 
then the study of dependency will arouse curiosity and 
attract eager interest. 



PART I.— DEPENDENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



DEFINITIONS. 



All human beings are dependent in infancy. Nothing 
is more helpless than a babe. But the children of capable 
families are not " dependents" in the sense of the word 
used in this Introduction. In a certain sense adults of the 
most civilized communities are most dependent on each 
other. Increase of unlikeness of parts carries with it 
increased dependence of parts. The savage makes all he 
requires, but the civilized man makes one article and buys 
ten thousand articles of all the world. Nor are all the 
poor "dependents. " Most people are relatively poor. A 
poor Yankee would be rich in China. A poor Irishman 
would be wealthy in Patagonia. " Dependents" are those 
members of society who cannot or will not support them- 
selves without aid of others. It is easy to see that Depend- 
ency admits degrees. It shades off upward into the simple 
poverty of misfortune, and downward into beggary and 
crime. In its extreme form among adults, dependency may 
be called Pauperism, a word which carries with it a sugges- 
tion of reproach. The pauper is a social parasite who 
attaches himself to other members of the community, and, 
by living at the expense of others, like a Hermit Crab, 
suffers loss of faculty by atrophy and disuse. Pauperism 

5 



DEPENDENTS, 



is a loathsome disease, more difficult of cure, many think, 
than crime. 



CHAPTER II. 



SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE. 



i. Observation is the prime source of real knowledge. 
He who would have genuine impressions, by which to 
vivify and correct his reading, must go into the homes of 
the extremely poor, and have actual dealings with them. 
One may go with visitors of relief societies and poor 
authorities of city or town ; or with a city physician called 
to treat a " county case;" or resort to pauper hospitals 
and poor-houses; or walk in forlorn regions with mission 
workers who know the haunts and ways of the destitute. 
So Mr. Dugdale studied at first hand the habitats and 
customs of "The Jukes" in New York, and so Mr. McCul- 
loch studied the "Tribe of Ishmael" in his Indianapolis 
parish. 

2. Art. To deepen and widen and refresh the fading 
impressions of observation the representations of art are 
valuable. Painters and sculptors recall jaded spirits to feel 
the reality of poverty. Writers of fiction suggest new fields 
of research, and intensify the moral reaction against 
morbid social conditions. "Ginx's Baby" stings us with 
satire ; Dickens attracts us to walk with him in his descent 
into the Inferno and Purgatory of human sorrows; Bell- 
amy's "Looking Backward" has at least the merit of 
arousing the selfish from dreams of luxury ; Mrs. Brown- 
ing's "Cry of the Children" thrills the sensitive heart, 



SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE. J 

and her " Aurora Leigh" opens all philosophies, and all 
wounds, and all modes of cure ; Hood's " Song of the 
Shirt" has not become antiquated where Sweaters toil; 
and Hugo's "Les Miserables" still creep along the alleys 
of our towns to unhealthy dens. 

It is true that such works of art have their limitations. 
They often describe scenes that no longer exist, they seldom 
offer scientific analyses of causes or offer adequate remedies. 
The novelist is free to fly in air, but the sociologist must 
walk on solid earth, close to facts, and the reformer must 
deal with reality and not with dreams. Still the " Children 
of Gibeon" appeal to us as if they were at our doors, and 
"All Sorts and Conditions of Men" are our near contem- 
poraries: Such is the power of strong imagination that we 
can go with Meriwether in his "Tramp at Home" and 
learn many facts that thus unhelped would never come to 
our notice. Mr. Riis in "How the Other Half Live" and 
"Children of the Poor," by the aid of written words and 
photography leads us, even though little willing, to almost 
converse with the inhabitants of the dolorous tenements of 
our metropolis. 

Crabbe's Poems: "The Village" (English Almshouse). 

Hogarth's Pictures. 

Barrie's "Little Minister." 

"Fraternity." 

Abbe Le Roux, "Thoughts of a Parish Priest." 

3. Records. During the past fifteen years the Associa- 
tions of Charity have piled up records of actual cases which 
are a mine of information in respect to particular persons 
and families. The reports of charitable institutions, the 
reports of state boards of charities and corrections, the 
government tables and consul reports, are rich treasuries of 
exact information. 



8 DEPENDENTS. 

4. Statistics. These impressions of special forms of de- 
pendency require the aid of statistics. The chief uses of 
statistics are, — to secure accurate and mathematical measure- 
ment of the extent of the evil of pauperism and kindred 
social diseases ; to map out the geographical situation of the 
worst plague spots ; to disclose the causes of the phenom- 
ena at their spring ; to reveal the tendencies of the current 
of poverty and distress, the fluctuations, eddies, changes in 
the turbid stream. Models of such investigation are found 
in Mr. Dugdale's "The Jukes," McCulloch's "Tribe of Ish- 
mael," and Booth's "Life and Labor." 

5. The Special Sciences contribute facts, laws, reasonings. 
One great reason for past failures to deal successfully with 
pauperism is that it has been attacked at a single point and 
regarded from a single standpoint. The conviction is 
growing upon all competent workers in this field that such 
fragmentary and partial methods are doomed to failure. 
He who would study Dependency with the best results 
must first master the principles of biological science. He 
may not be an expert in physical science, but he must know 
the laws of heredity in the animal world, the imperative 
commands of sanitary science and art, the laws of food and 
habitation. Psychology must, contribute a special study of 
the general laws of thinking and feeling, and those special 
modes of thinking and feeling which are peculiar to depend- 
ents and defectives. The Political Economist must be 
asked to tell us what industrial conditions are most sure to 
produce or increase a tendency to dependency, and what 
economic principles must be observed by philanthropists 
if they wish to do good and not harm. 

Ethical science must tell us the fundamental obligations 
of society to the broken members and the grounds of vol- 



SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE. 9 

untary or governmental action. The Historian must be 
drawn upon for an account of the past social conditions 
out of which these evils have grown, and of the efforts and 
experiments of philanthropy in other times. 

Political science will show the methods of government 
in dealing with the class under consideration, the organs 
of the state adapted to this end, and the limits of the pow- 
ers of lawmakers and judges and magistrates. And then 
our theory and practice will be greatly affected by our real 
convictions in respect to God and the relations of men to 
each other as children of a Common Father. 

At last all these forms of knowledge must be coordi- 
nated in sociologv, their proper place and relative value 
found and estimated, and practical conclusions drawn from 
the entire series. He who imagines that any amiable 
impulse will answer for science is sure to blunder. The 
pages to follow, imperfect as they must be, are inspired by 
a profound conviction that the time is ripe for a more 
thorough and adequate treatment of these subjects. If we 
can succeed in one field of social study the same method 
will help us forward in other fields. 

If more than twenty-two years of almost daily contact 
with the poor in an attempt to help them by personal, 
parish, institutional, and governmental means ; if constant 
study of the greatest writers in medical, sanitary, economic, 
ethical, religious, political and social science, if long jour- 
neys for research in many towns and cities, in America and 
in Europe, if years of converse and discussion and corres- 
pondence with wise and generous men and women over 
these themes ; if constant experience as an organizer, admin- 
istrator, trustee and director of important charities ; if all 
this entitles one to offer a humble contribution to this sub- 
ject, then this course of essays may claim a small corner 



10 DEPENDENTS. 

for its own. Without such experience and study the author 
would not feel justified in offering one more book to a 
long-suffering public. 



CHAPTER III. 

INTEREST AND IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT. 

i. Pauperism is Costly. The economic effects of 
dependency deserves study and consideration. 

Mr. McCulloch (N. C. C, 1891, pp. 12-13) makes the fol- 
lowing estimates, which must be compared with the results 
of the last census and other recent sources. In 1880 the 
census reported 481,240 as belonging to the dependent, 
defective and delinquent classes. This did not include 
those in jails, nor was it in anyway correct as to those 
receiving out-door relief. The view presented in the glow- 
ing pages of Mr. Carnegie's " Triumphant Democracy " is 
based on the confessedly imperfect figures of the census of 
1880, and is not reliable. But, taking the figures as they 
stand, they represent a half-million. Marshalling them in 
regiments, we should have these results : 

Adults. Idiotic, 76,895; Insane, 91,997 ; Blind, 48,- 
928; Deaf-mutes, 33,665; Paupers, 88,665; Prisoners, 59,- 
255 ; Total, 400,000. 

Children. Deaf-mutes, 6,617 ; Blind, 2,032 ; Orphan, 
59,161; Feeble-minded, 2,472; in Reform Schools, 11,- 
340 ; Total, 81,622. 

Nor would this include the vast number of children 
cared for by Children's Aid Societies and the neglected 
children of the street. But this number, large as it is, 
would be immensely swelled by the more careful statistics 



IMPORTArvXE OF THE SUBJECT. I I 

of 1890. Mr. Ely, in North American Review, April, 1891, 
taking the report of the conference for 1887 as a basis, 
estimates an average of 250,000 out-door and 110,000 in- 
door paupers per year. This is on the authority of Mr. H. 
H. Hart and Mr. F. B. Sanborn. Mr. Kellogg estimates 
that 3,000,000 have been supported in whole or in part by 
the United States in any one year. Mr. McCulloch esti- 
mates the cost in money, $50,000,000 in maintenance and 
$50,000,000 in loss of productive power. Every human 
being who cannot or will not support himself must be sup- 
ported at the expense of other persons more industrious 
and capable. Professor Tucker (And. Rev. 1889 and after- 
wards), gives some comparative estimates which are instruct- 
ive. " There are in Great Britain over 1,000,000 paupers, 
supported at an annual cost of $40,000,000. The annual 
charge for the army is $90,000,000, of the navy $60,000,- 
000, law and justice, $30,000,000, education, $30,000,000. 
Michigan has 45,000 paupers, out-door and in-door, sup- 
ported at an annual cost of $650,000; 2,500 insane, sup- 
ported at a cost of $500,000. Ohio has 54,000 paupers, 
supported at a cost of $1,100,000; insane 6,000, cost $800,- 
000. The whole cost of dependent, defective and delin- 
quent persons in the state of New York is over $12,000,000. 
Massachusetts has 62,000 paupers, who cost $2,000,000 ; 
insane, 6,800, cost $900,000. 

Mr. Dugdale closes his account of " The Jukes " with 
this remark : " Over a million and a quarter dollars of loss 
in seventy-five years, caused by a single family 1,200 strong, 
without reckoning the cash paid for whisky, or taking into 
account the entailment of pauperism and crime of the sur- 
vivors in succeding generations, and the incurable disease, 
idiocy, and insanity growing out of this debauchery, and 
reaching further than we can calculate. It is getting to be 



12 DEPENDENTS. 

time to ask, Do our courts, our laws, our alms-houses and 
our jails deal with the question presented?" Mr. Round 
very aptly states a suggestive paragraph of Mr. Dugdale : 
" He had sometimes a moment of scorn for the hurrying 
crowd who will not stop and think about the problems 
with which their lives and interests are entangled. It was 
but the longing of the true reformer for sympathy and help 
that made him once cry out : I am informed that twenty- 
eight thousand dollars was raised in two days to purchase a 
rare collection of antique jewelry and bronze recently dis- 
covered in classic ground forty feet below the debris. I 
do not hear of as many pence being offered to fathom the 
debris of our civilization — however rich the yield." 

" The number of paupers in London in 1815 was about 
what it was in 1875, although the population has increased 
threefold, 100,000. But it cost about five times as much 
and living is cheaper. This seems to mean that paupers 
have better care, as demanded by the ideas of what is neces- 
sary in the classes above them in the social scale." 

Riis', " How the Other Half Lives "; facts relating to New York 

City. 
Mulhall, " Dictionary of Statistics : Pauperism." 
D. A. Wells, "Recent Economic Changes," p. 334 and 414. 

2. The Moral Cost of Dependency cannot be measured 
nor stated in figures ; but it is this which is far more import- 
ant than the cost in wealth. A rich country may long be 
able to support a pauper population even larger than the 
vast army we now endure ; but it is absolutely intolerable 
to think of the misery, the degradation, the moral hideous- 
ness of these forlorn and depressed children of poverty. 
Then consider the portentous fact that the men of these 
classes can vote, and the vote of one of them counts with 



IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT. 1 3 

the vote of the president of a college or of a railroad. Con- 
sider further that pauperism leads on toward crime, prepares 
the nest out of which all loathsome diseases of body and 
soul are hatched, and that evil is contagious. No marble 
walls can separate our children from the contaminating 
influence of pauperism. In spite of the great mortality 
among dependents, they are so prolific that heredity has a 
chance to work on through many generations. Before a 
degraded family has become extinct, its collateral lines 
replenish and recruit the host of incompetents. There is 
not a community in the land but has an increasing stock of 
people in whose blood runs the corrupt tendencies of past 
weakness and depravity. They count without facts who 
trust to the inherent and natural forces of society to root 
out this threatening element. Meantime, while we wait for 
the slow and murderous processes of unassisted nature, 
millions suffer and inflict their evil upon us all, and transmit 
to their descendants and to ours a burden that menaces the 
very existence of the race. A distinct type of man is 
forming among us, armed with all the power of universal 
suffrage, supported largely at the cost of the sober and 
industrious, who already have as much as they can do to 
sustain themselves in life's stern battle. 



CHAPTER IV 



CLASSIFICATION AND SOCIAL AFFILIATIONS. 

All the members of society may be classed, for the 
present purpose as, relatively, Progressive and Stationary 
or Retrogressive. 



14 DEPENDENTS. 

i. The Progressive Class includes, we may hope, a 
majority of the people of the United States. In all ordinary 
circumstances most families are self-supporting, self-respect- 
ing, law-abiding, industrious, and under the educational 
influences of schools, churches, newspapers and the public 
sentiment of Christian civilization. The majority of bread- 
winners not only support themselves, but a great army of 
social parasites of all kinds, the non-productive, idle classes, 
rich and poor. 

2. The Stationary or Retrogressive Class may be divided 
into three sections : a) Dependents. These are persons 
who are unable or unwilling to support themselves without 
aid from others. Here belong helpless infants, infirm old 
people who are without means of subsistence, paupers of 
all grades and kinds. b) Defectives. These are also gen- 
erally dependents, but are considered apart because of the 
nature and origin of their disability, c) Delinquents. In this 
section are placed for study all those who have forfeited 
their place in society by reason of violating laws which 
are designed to protect life, personal security, property and 
character. These are of all grades, from the passionate 
youth of respectable parentage who has been caught in a 
moment of sudden temptation and whirled along among 
thieves, to the confirmed instinctive criminal with whom 
robbery is a craft in which he finds pleasure and glory. 

There is a very close and organic connection between 
these classes. They cannot be studied or treated as if they 
belonged in separate compartments with impervious walls 
between them. Very often one family will impose upon 
society the burden of degraded children who will be classed 
among dependents, defectives and delinquents. The feeble 
members will go to asylums for incurables, the women will 



STUDY OF TYPICAL CASES. I 5 

furnish recruits to the host of outcasts, the men will swell 
the ranks of thieves and vagabonds. In the last days, if 
they reach old age, the countv poor house shelters them all. 
There are two paths open to members of each class, one 
upward into the progressive class, and one downward into 
lower depths of weakness, vice and misery. The fact that 
society is organically one bodv, with a common life, has 
these two sides, dark and light. These considerations show 
that progressive members of society cannot ignore the re- 
trogressive members. The moral energies of evil are not 
merely negative. A cancer feeds on the body in which it 
is rooted. We cannot forget misery, and we cannot exter- 
minate the wicked. Even capital punishment settles 
nothing. If our humane sentiments permitted us to recur 
to the severe penalties of old England before the days of 
Elizabeth, and inflict the death penalty for begging, still we 
should not reduce but increase the stock out of which 
beggars grow. The policv of letting pauperism alone is as 
foolish and wicked as the policy under which the legal 
punishment was a worse crime than the deed punished. 



CHAPTER V. 



STUDY OF TYPICAL CASES, 



At this important point the book cannot supply material 
for studv. All social studies must rest upon actual experi- 
ence. We must deal with concrete realities. 

i. Sources. We may, however, indicate how such typi- 
cal cases may be sought and found. Unfortunately there is 



1 6 DEPENDENTS. 

only too much clinical experience in every community. 
Those who are at all likely to use these chapters have 
already met more or less of destitution. Memory is a store- 
house of facts, although they may be rudely thrown together 
and unrelated. This personal knowledge may be extended 
by visits with physicians to the poor, with friendly visitors 
of Associations of Charity, with investigators of local state 
aid to paupers, with pastors and Su'nday School workers in 
towns and cities. In all communities of considerable popu- 
lation there are various institutions for the relief of the 
indigent. Those who are bent on thorough knowledge 
may pursue their studies by friendly visits among these 
lonely and miserable persons, doing good to them by 
conversation and eliciting from them stories of scientific 
importance. 

2. Kinds of cases to be sought. a) Destitute children, 
foundlings, orphans, half -orphans, deserted children, chil- 
dren of vicious or criminal parents. Facts should be set 
down, but not in the sight of those who are directly inter- 
ested, in respect to age, home surroundings, school, church 
relations of parents, origin (city or country), and as to 
parents, living or dead, and their conditions and character. 
b) Destitute adults. The question asked by relief societies 
and charity investigators are usually important. These 
cover facts relating to age, nationality, heredity, occupation, 
income, number of children, dwelling, rent, references, and 
the immediate cause of dependency, as sickness, accident, 
inability to get work, sudden misfortune, old age, widow- 
hood. It is also desirable to find out from all sources 
whether the case is recent or chronic, c) Defectives. These 
are usually found in special institutions. A careful study 
may be given to feeble minded children, deaf-mutes, 



CAUSES OF DEPENDENCY. 1 7 

insane, blind, epileptic. The characteristics of each class 
should be noted. 

Indexed note-books are of great value, and this value in- 
creases with years of observation. The authority for the 
facts, with dates, should be scrupulously set down with the 
name, and all statements should be sifted by rules of evi- 
dence applicable to the situation. ) 



CHAPTER VI. 

A STUDY OF THE CAUSES OF DEPENDENCY. 

We should endeavor to discover in the phenomena of 
dependency all the discoverable forces which tend to 
depress certain members of society and to hinder their 
progress. We leave to psychology and philosophy the 
important questions relating to the use of the word " cause" 
in relation to human conduct. In this connection we mean 
by "causes" all those physical and moral facts which obser- 
vation shows to be uniformly followed by certain results in 
character, conduct and condition. While we believe and 
insist that there is a vast difference between physical and 
moral causation, between the force of gravity and the stress 
of motive, yet we must recognize the pressure of forces, 
internal and external, which tend to produce morbid con- 
ditions and vicious conduct. We shall consider these 
causes under three heads : those which spring from hered- 
ity, from environment, and from the personal reaction on 
heredity and environment. 

i. Hereditary Causes of Depression. There is a strug- 
gle for existence on the earth among all vegetables and 



1 8 DEPENDENTS. 

animals, and among kinds and races. Space is limited, and 
also means of subsistence ; but the power of propagation 
has no limits. In this struggle for existence the " fittest 
survive;" that is, those which are best adapted to the 
environment ; not always the highest and best absolutely. 
All vegetables and animals produce offspring which resem- 
ble them. " Conformity to type." There is also a perpet- 
ual tendency to variation. This is caused partly by external 
changes in the environment, partly by internal changes, by 
the interaction of external and internal forces, and by 
causes yet unknown or vaguely known. This tendency to 
vary is caused or assisted by natural selection, sexual selec- 
tion, and artificial selection by the conscious efforts of man. 
There is also a tendency to revert to ancestral type 
(atavism). This is a brief summary of some of the most 
important forces with which we must count in studying 
pauperism. 

With special reference to the morbid conditions which 
issue in insanity and pauperism, the words of Mercier may 
be quoted, while his work cited will furnish many illustra- 
tions. "The stability or instability of a person's highest 
nervous arrangements depends primarily and chiefly upon 
inheritance." The laws of inheritance are two : the law of 
Inheritance and the law of Sangumity. 

The law of Inheritance : the offspring tend to inherit 
every attribute of the parents. An attribute which appeared 
in the parent at a certain time of life tends to appear in the 
offspring at a corresponding time of life. When the same 
attribute appears in several generations, but is not congeni- 
tal, it may appear at an earlier stage in each successive 
generation. Attributes pertaining to one parent (espe- 
cially those appearing later in life, when the reproductive 
function is active), tend to be produced in the offspring of 



CAUSES OF DEPENDENCY. 1 9 

that sex only. Attributes peculiar to one parent may be 
most apparent at one period of the life of the offspring, 
and those of the other at another. From the possession by 
the offspring of one attribute peculiar to one parent, we 
may infer the possession of other attributes peculiar to the 
same parent. When an attribute exists in an individual, is 
absent in his offspring, and reappears in the third or some 
subsequent generation, it is said to be latent in those gen- 
erations in which it does not appear, and the individual in 
whom at length it appears is said to "revert," in so far as 
that attribute is concerned, to the ancestor in whom it was 
present. 

The second law of Heredity: Sanguinity. " There are 
certain limits, on the one hand of similarity, and on the 
other of dissimilarity, between two individuals, between 
which limits only can the union of those individuals be fer- 
tile, and, in proportion as these limits are approached, the 
offspring deteriorates." 

The following are the most important tentative generali- 
zations of Mr. Dugdale in "The Jukes," relating to pau- 
perism. "Pauperism is an indication of weakness of some 
kind, either youth, disease, old age, or injury, or, for 
women, childbirth." It is divisible into hereditary and 
induced pauperism. Hereditary pauperism rests chiefly 
upon disease in some form, tends to terminate in extinction, 
and may be called the sociological aspect of physical 
degeneration. The debility and diseases which enter most 
largely in its production are the result of sexual licentious- 
ness. Pauperism in old age, especially in the meridian of 
life, indicates a hereditary tendency which may or may not 
be modified by the environment. Pauperism follows men 
more frequently than women, indicating a decided tendency 
to hereditary pauperism. The different degrees of adult 



20 DEPENDENTS. 

pauperism, from out -door relief to alms-house charity, 
indicate, in the main, different gradations of waning 
vitality. In this light the whole question is opened up, 
whether indolence, which the dogmatic aphorism says 
"is the root of all evil," is not, after all, a mark of under 
vitalization, and an effect which acts only as a secondary 
cause." 

" Running alongside of licentiousness, and as inseparable 
from it as illegitimacy, are the diseases which are distinct- 
ive of it and which produce social phenomena which are 
the direct subjects of the present investigation. In the 
wake of disease follows pauperism, so in studying the one 
we must discuss the other. But disease treats of physio- 
logical states ; it is a biological question ; therefore, the 
social questions included in the consideration of pauper- 
ism rest, in large measure, upon the data furnished by the 
study of vital force. Lines of intermarriage between 
"Jukes" show a minimum of crime. Pauperism- pre- 
ponderates in the consanguineous lines." Since intermar- 
riage of those who possess morbid states in common tends 
to increase those diseased conditions in the offspring, it 
follows that the marriage of "Jukes" would produce feeble 
paupers, while intermarriage with outside stock would fur- 
nish more vigorous offspring, who would enter crime 
careers. The weak members of a degenerate stock take to 
mendicancy, the stronger to crime. 

The tendency to revert to past conditions must be noticed. 
The great historic fact of morals and spiritual life is that 
man has had to come up from a very lowly state. The- 
ology may call it depravity and anthropology name it sav- 
age and barbarous culture. Both describe the same hum- 
ble level above which, at great cost, man has been slowly 



CAUSES OF DEPENDENCY. 21 

educated and lifted. Many writers of the eighteenth cent- 
ury, before the teachings of Darwinism dissipated the 
dream, taught a different story. No anthropologist of our 
day would write as did J. J. Rousseau : "The fundamental 
principle of all morality, on which all the reasonings of my 
writings are based ... is that man is a being naturally 
good, loving justice and order ; that there is no original 
perversity in the human heart, and that the first movements 
of nature are always right." 1 Man has only by degrees 
attained morality and become conscious of the ideal possi- 
bilities of his nature. It is the late conquest of these 
ideals which gives promise of more rapid advance in the 
future. 

The question whether "acquired characteristics" are 
inherited is in dispute among biologists, and therefore it 
must be regarded as an open question among sociologists. 
But no practical measure will be greatly affected by the con- 
troversy. Perhaps if Weissmann's theory comes to be 
accepted, more stress will be laid upon environment than 
upon heredity. 

On the question whether acquired characteristics are 
inherited see : 

Weissman, "Essays on Heredity and Kindred Biological Sub- 
jects." 2 vols. 

Sully, "The Human Mind." Vol. L, p. 138. 

Pfliiger; " Ueber den Einfluss der Schwercraft," etc. Archiv. f. 
Physiol. Bnd., xxxii, 1883 (referred to by \Yeissmann). 

Strahan, "Marriage and Disease." Ch. iii. 

J. Arthur Thomson, "The History and Theory of Heredity." 1889, 
(with bibliography). 

Neo - Darwinism and Neo - Lamarckism, by Lester F. Ward, 1891. 

G. J. Romanes in Con. Rev. Vol. 57, 1890. 

Many articles in A7ner. Naturalist and other periodicals. 

Compare Le Play, Economie Sociale, ch. 1. 



22 DEPENDENTS. 

2. Environment. A second class of causes may be 
summed up under the head "Environment," 

A person not only inherits internal characteristics, but 
is born into a world of external forces, which act upon him 
from the beginning to the end. A member of a feeble 
stock generally enters upon the estate of the poor and suf- 
fers from their environment. 

(a) Inorganic environment. Dependency is affected by 
the quality of soil and the nature of the climate. The 
" Jukes" did not own fat lands. The habits of mendicants 
in sunny southern lands are different from those in the 
rigorous northern countries. The northern winter season 
is the time when multitudes pass over the line which places 
a family among the suppliants of charity. 

{d) Organic. Dependency is affected by the quantity and 
quality of the vegetable and animal products of the habi- 
tat. Dearth, famine, excessive rainfall, late and early frosts, 
floods, grasshoppers and other insect devastators, diseases 
among domestic animals, are all causes of temporary 
appeals for help. After great and general calamities many 
persons are found to trade upon sympathy who had hereto- 
fore supported themselves. 

It must not be forgotten that while the earth modifies 
man it may also be modified by man. 

On this subject one may read : 

Buckle's "History of Civilization in England." 

Malthus' "Essay on Population." 

Bonar's "Malthus." 

Criticism of Malthus, by H. George in " Progress and Poverty." 

Guyot's "Earth and Man." 

Marsh, "The Earth as Modified by Human Action." 

On these causes see : 
Ritchie, "Darwinism and Politics." 
Mercier, "Sanity and Insanity." 



CAUSES OF DEPENDENCY. 23 

A. G. Warner, " Statistical Determination of the Causes of Poverty" 
in Am. Statistic. Ass. Rep., 1889, and Johns Hopkins Studies 
No. 7, July, 1889. 

Strahan, " Marriage and Disease." 

Dugdale, "The Jukes." 

Darwin's "Animals and Plants Under Domestication," "Origin of 
Species," "Descent of Man." 

H. Spencer, "Biology." 

Th. Ribot, "Heredity." 
^ Walter Bagehot, " Physics and Politics." 

Oscar Schmidt, " The Theory of Darwinism and Descent." 

(c) The Social Environment. A bare analysis will sug- 
gest the essential facts : the works referred to will furnish 
illustrations. 

A. Domestic. 

The housing of the poor is a prolific source of beggary, 

and it is a remediable evil. Where the rooms are too few 

and too small for cleanliness, health, vigor, privacy, we find 

the nidus for hatching the egg of pauperism. 

Riis, "How the Other Half Lives," closing chapters. 
Jahrbucher fur Nationalokonomie und Stat., March, 1892, p. 431. 

Illegitimate children often inherit a diseased and enfee- 
bled body, but their worst curse, if they survive infancy, is 
the " environment of neglect." 

" We quarreled like brutes, and who wonders ? 
What self - respect could we keep, 
Worse housed than your hacks and your pointers, 
Worse fed than your hogs and your sheep ? 

Our daughters with base - born babies 

Have wandered away in their shame ; 

If your misses had slept, squire, where they did, 

Your misses might do the same." 

C. Kingsley's "The Bad Squire." 

Demoralized homes, misruled by contentious, drunken, 
immoral parents, cast their children upon the world as beg- 



24 DEPENDENTS. 

gars or as plunderers. The family is the unit of society, 
and its conduct determines the conditions of the future 
race. The evil example of parents, their idleness, vice and 
crime, help to break down the barriers against the motives 
which tend to produce dependents. The divorce of par- 
ents frequently leaves a weak woman to carry the burden of 
the children. For generally it is the man who deserts the 
post of duty. The misfortunes of parents, as sickness, 
accident, and enfeebled old age, swell the volume of 
dependency. But society could easily care for all such 
cases if they stood alone — as they never do. 

B. Educational defects are to be charged with a great 
part of the cost of pauperism. 

In a country where common schools abound, mere illit- 
eracy may soon become a very small factor. But the aver- 
age child must be trained to work at some useful art or 
become an anti- social or extra -social being. Idleness 
means licentiousness, and this means feebleness. Inefficiency 
excludes from employment and produces the tramp class. 
The mere absence of kindergartens, kitchen gardens, sloyd, 
manual training, and technical schools is a source of social 
peril. 

See works on Manual Training, by C. H. Ham and C. M. Wood- 
ward. 

C. Industrial conditions favorable to the increase of 
dependency. Here must be considered the nature of the 
occupation and its tendency to increase sickness and mor- 
tality. Some callings expose their members to accident 
and disease. One of every twelve trainmen in the United 
States is injured each year. Dusty trades tend to produce 
lung diseases. In certain occupations periodical idleness 
is inevitable, and this acts upon the habits of industry and 
on the family income and domestic life. 



CAUSES OF DEPENDENCY. 2$ 

Billings, " Vital and Medical Statistics." 

nth Census, Bulletin ioo. 

Korosi, " Sterblichkeit der Stadt Budapest in den Jahren, 1 876-1881, 

und deren Ursachen." 
New Jersey Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1889, Part I, on "Health 

and Trade -Life of Workmen." 
Travers Twiss, " Tests of a Thriving Population." 
Dwight Porter, " A Sanitary Inspection o f certain Tenement House 

Districts of Boston." 
Chapin, " Preventable Causes of Poverty," Forum, June, 1889. 
"Class-Mortality Statistics," Jour. Royal Stat. Soc, June, 1887. 
Newsholme, " Elements of Vital Statistics." 
Grimshaw, Reports as Registrar General of Ireland. 
Prof. H. C. Adams, "The Slaughter of Railway Employes," Forum,, 

June, 1892. 

But industrial conditions may increase pauperism in less 
direct ways. 

The principle is this : All economic disorder or loss, 
local and general, tends to increase dependency. At this 
point sociology waits on political economy to determine 
what those conditions are. 

Here may be considered : 

The excess of population as compared with the means 
of subsistence. Matthew Arnold says that children are not 
" sent," they are made. 

See Malthus' " Essay," J. S. Mill, Cairnes, and other standard 
works on Political Economy ; and the other side in Henry George's 
" Poverty and Progress." 

The absence of organization among wage receivers. 
" Organized labor is now beyond the reach of poverty. 
Pauperism is recruited from the ranks of unorganized labor. 
The labor question touches pauperism only through the 
unemployed and unorganized." (Prof. Tucker). 

The undue congestion of population in large commun- 
ities, a result of the use of machinery, division of labor, 



26 DEPENDENTS. 

and many other causes, the rhythmic alternations of demand 
for labor and of enforced idleness, changes in industry by 
improvement of machinery, by transfer of vast commercial 
and manufacturing concerns to other centers, by specializa- 
tion of industries, by the employment of women and 
children in place of men are to be counted here. 

D. Causes of Dependency arising from defects in Gov- 
ernment and in social institutions sustained by law. While 
slavery has been abolished in America its effects linger. 
Customs and sentiments remain over from the age of slav- 
ery, together with economic disadvantages, which hold 
down many, white and black, in North and South, whose 
ancestors slavery cursed. The tendency of slavery is not 
only to rob the slave of his earnings and to debase him, 
but also to reduce the reward of free laborers to those of 
the level of slave labor, to discourage skill and invention, 
and to make useful toil disreputable. 

While we have no standing army in the United States 
we are expending enough money on war expenses, in the 
form of debt, interest and pensions, in time of peace, to 
support a great standing army. This is not said by way of 
criticism, but to suggest one of the causes of dependency, 
since all expenses of government must ultimately be paid 
out of the product of painful industry. The war system 
of Europe sends its impoverished, crippled, pauperized 
victims to our shores for support. Unwise interference 
with freedom of trade has often brought on crises attended 
with great suffering and degradations. For an example 
see Manzoni's "I Promessi Sposi," ch. xxviii. 

Where government has lowered the value of its coins, or 
dishonored its promises to pay real money, destitution 
has always followed. The failure of government to pro- 
tect life, liberty, property and character has been attended 



CAUSES OF DEPENDENCY. 27 

by economic difficulties in which the weaker members of 
society suffer first and most. Capital is timid. Most lab- 
orers must work all the time in order to live. Enterprise 
is frightened and crippled by ignorant financial legislation. 
The effects strike deep into society. Unwise state subsidies 
to private charities increase pauperism directly and indi- 
rectly. 

See Mrs. Lowell's " Report on the Care of Dependent Children in 
the State of New York and Elsewhere." 1890. Ward, Dynamic 
Sociology, Vol. I., p. 519. 

It is manifest that any oppressive customs or laws relat- 
ing to land tenure or taxation must reduce many to a con- 
dition of poverty and increase the liability to pauperism 
and crime. The actual effects of various social and indus- 
trial usages and laws on these points are subjects upon 
which economic science must speak the final word. 

Professor Tucker gives these references to the subject : 

Communal Land Tenure : Wallace's Russia, chapter on the " Mir." 

Ashley's " Economic History," chapter on the Manor and Village 
Community. 

Parliamentary reports on the English system of landlord and tenant. 

On holding land under mortgage in the U. S. Political Science 
Quar. Sept. 1889. 

And. Rev. Sept. 1890. 

State Reports. 

On Land Nationalization : H. George, " Progress and Poverty." 

Rae, " Contemporary Socialism." 

Laveleve, Co. Rev. Nov. 1881 

G. Gunton, Forum, March, 1887. 

W. T. Harris, Forum, July, 1887. 

Herbert Spencer in "Justice " modifies his early views on the nation- 
alization of land. See " A Perplexed Philosopher " for Mr. 
George's account of the phases of Mr. Spencer's doctrine. 

E. Moral causes of dependency. All vicious and cor- 
rupting customs in society provide a depressing environ 



28 DEPENDENTS. 

ment. The luxury and vices of the rich tend to destroy 
the hopes and morality of the less favored. Adam Smith, 
John S. Mill and Kingsley have shown the absurdity and 
mischief of the maxim that the wastefulness of the rich is 
the advantage of the poor. The spendthrift who " causes 
money to circulate," and gives employment to the poor in 
ministering to his sensual delight or extravagant habits, 
does harm, while the enlightened miser does good by put- 
ting his hoards to productive use. The ostentatious chil- 
dren of luxury make the poor discontented with toil and 
eager to " enjoy life." We shall mention later those moral 
causes which are personal rather than part of the environ- 
ment. 

Adam Smith, "Wealth of Nations." 
J. S. Mill, Political Economy. 
C. Kingsley, "Alton Locke." 

F. Corruptions in the Church aggravate the evils of 
dependencey. An apathetic and formal church rays out 
darkness instead of light. Men stumble over a lamp that 
is not lighted to direct their steps. A selfish church, with- 
out enthusiasm for humanity, more intent on defending a 
philosophy than on being a blessing to men, divided up 
into classes, with sharp lines drawn to distinguish the strata 
of culture and wealth, is sure to make it more hard for the 
weak to rise in the world. The hope of the worst lies in 
loving contact with the best. The church is rendered incom- 
petent to deal with pauperism and kindred evils by its 
sectarian divisions. While there is a great and growing 
unity of feeling and sentiment among Christians that is 
truly hopeful, it has never as yet found adequate expression 
in organized and effective action. It is weak through its 
division and lack of a common agency for centralizing its 
forces. 



CAUSES OF DEPENDENCY. 29 

See article on the " Municipal Church," by Washington 
Gladden, in Review of Reviews, October, 1892. One bane 
of church charity is its indiscriminate, emotional, unreason- 
ing, unscientific almsgiving. Its benevolence is often 
maleficent rather than beneficent. Sectarian almsgiving, a 
sort of ecclesiastical (I refuse to say religious) bribery, is to 
blame for the pauperization of many a family in our cities. 
Missions vie with each other for the opportunity of destroy- 
ing the self-respect and self-help of poor families, by dis- 
tributing old clothes and fitful supplies of groceries, while 
they refuse persistently to cooperate through the Associa- 
tion of Charities in wise measures for exterminating the 
cursed disease of pauperism. 

Mere ecclesiasticism, as distinguished from religious 
philanthropy, often multiplies institutions as monuments of 
their glory, to the detriment of the very classes they are 
honestly meant to help. The ministry, as natural leaders 
of social reforms on the side of charity, need, what few 
educational institutions have until recently attempted to 
supply, a thorough training in the methods of social science. 
They who look at these subjects from a single point of 
view, as law, or ethics, or religion, or political science, or 
economics, must blunder by defect. All society must move 
together if these diseases of the social body are to be 
thoroughly healed. 

G. Immigration adds to the volume of dependency in 
the United States. 

Too great and rapid influx of foreigners, even of a good 
character, presses laboring men to the wall by direct com- 
petition. A gentle rain long continued will enrich a 
meadow, while a flood after a storm-burst will ruin the soil 
with gullies and sand. If laborers are imported in great 
numbers under contract to work at lower than current 



30 DEPENDENTS. 

wages, these evils become insufferable. And if the immi- 
grants are accustomed to a very low standard of living, 
competition with them in the labor market exercises its 
most destructive influence. Strikes follow. The families 
that had reached a moderate social condition are depressed, 
and their places are taken by a horde of people who supply 
our prisons and alms-houses with inmates, and who soon 
become themselves lawless and restless under government. 
The excessive importation of laborers " renders nugatory 
all the efforts of labor organizations to increase wages by 
strikes or combinations. " 

Statistics show the extent to which dependency and 
crime in this country are increased by the influx of undesir- 
able elements, but they cannot reveal the suffering caused 
by the competition of industrious people with those accus- 
tomed to a lower standard of living, and by the struggles 
and fears of the effort to remain self-supporting. 

Dr. M. B. Anderson (N. C. C, 1876) treated the subject 
of the ethical and political principles involved and the 
social effects of immigration in relation to the dependent 
and other unsocial classes. 

" First. A nation is a moral organism which owes cer- 
tain duties to its members, and to which its members owe 
certain duties in return. The bond between government 
and subject is a reciprocal one. Therefore, every citizen 
or subject is bound to maintain by his property, and defend 
by his life, the government, which extends to him its pro- 
tection ; and, on the other hand, by the common practice 
of civilized peoples, the government assumes the care of its 
subjects when they are unable to care for themselves, 

Second. This obligation of a nation towards its depend- 
ent classes cannot be transferred to another without that 
other's consent. Commercial nations recognize this prin- 



CAUSES OF DEPENDENCY. 2 1 



ciple in their provisions through the consular system for 
the care of shipwrecked, discharged or disabled seamen. 
The foreign consuls of civilized nations provide for their 
maintenance, and return them to their homes. 

Third. It is clearly an offense against the comity of 
nations for any government, national or municipal, to throw 
the burden of caring for its dependent population upon 
any foreign country. But it has been proved beyond all 
question, that both foreign municipalities and foreign 
nations have provided, at the public expense, for the trans- 
portation of considerable numbers of their pauper class to 
the United States. It is beyond all question that paupers 
and criminals, in considerable numbers, have been sent to 
the United States by their relatives. 

Fourth. A nation becomes bound to support a foreign- 
born pauper only through his naturalization. Naturaliza- 
tion involves a reciprocal contract. The naturalized party 
repudiates his allegiance to the country in which he was 
born, and takes upon himself all the obligations of a citizen. 
He becomes bound to pay taxes according to his ability, 
and, if necessary, to serve in the army or navy against 
domestic or foreign enemies ; but an alien is free from a 
large measure of these obligations, and the state, on its 
part, comes under no obligation to maintain him, if he 
becomes dependent. 

The American sailor or resident living in England, who 
becomes a pauper, appeals naturally and rightfully to his 
own consul for protection and aid. There is no reason in 
the nature of the case why we should maintain paupers who 
are subjects of Great Britain or Germany, who are landed 
upon our shores in a dependent condition, or in such a 
state of mental or bodily health that they must necessarily 
become dependent. We are no more bound, apart from 



32 DEPENDENTS. 

the general law of humanity, to maintain such persons 

than we are to pay the interest on the English national 

debt, or furnish conscripts for the German army." 

R. M. Smith, " Emigration and Immigration." Full bibliography 

at end. 
N. C. C, from 1879, especially 1887, and 1891. 
Dr. Dana's paper, Amer. Social Science Ass'n, 



3. Personal Causes of Dependency. — This is not the place 
for a discussion on " freedom of will." That belongs to 
psychology and philosophy. It is sufficient for our present 
purpose to accept the statement of one who, contrary to 
the view held by the writer, teaches that " if the universe 
is the theater of law, freedom is a delusion." There is no 
such conflict between freedom and law, either in human gov- 
ernment or in the general government of the moral universe. 
No advocate of freedom claims that one can choose outside 
of the alternatives offered in experience. " No mind is free 
till it becomes free. . . . Moral freedom, if possessed at all, 
is gained only after a certain psychical development has 
been gone through." (Ladd, Introduction to Philosophy, 
p. 298). Liberty of choice with us is not infinite but limited. 
Heredity and environment present the only objects of pos- 
sible selection. But the choice of man counts for some- 
thing in the preference of motives and the direction of 
attention. Even Mr. Ward, in his attack on the doctrine 
of freedom, says: "The will is an effect as well as a 
cause." We say the will is a cause as well as an effect. 
Compare Ward, " Dynamic Sociology, Vol. I, p. 50, with 
James Martin eau, "Types of Ethical Theory." The ques- 
tion is of practical importance, because measures directed 
to the restoration of the dependents who have any power 
of initiative left must appeal to the sense of ability to start 
afresh and be self-determining. 



TREATMENT OF DEPENDENCY. 33 

The vices which cause pauperism are personal traits. 
The chief of such vices are indolence, fitfulness of industry, 
neglect of prudence and thrift, nomadic unsocial habits, 
intemperance, gluttony, sexual excesses and abuses, lawless- 
ness in relation to rights of property and person. These 
characteristics are aggravated by hereditary and environing 
causes, and we may never be able to measure statistically 
the part of each element in a vice, but in all ordinary per- 
sons the element of personal responsibility must be regarded 
as real. 

Conclusion. — All these causes are interwoven. Society is 
an organism in which each member is, reciprocally, means 
and end. A depressing physical environment, as an 
unhealthy tenement house, produces disease and weakness ; 
this reduces earning power ; and the lowering of wages 
means dependence. Low wages give inferior clothing and 
food, and defective house-room ; close contact increases 
immorality ; and all work together to destroy self-respect 
and self-help. The causes of destruction move in a vicious 
circle. The doctrine of I Corinthians, chapter xii, quoted 
on the title page of Schaffle's great work, is sound and 
necessary. 

F. H. Wines, N. C. C, 1886, p. 206, and 1890, p. 68. 



CHAPTER VII. 

GENERAL PRINCIPLES RELATING TO THE TREATMENT OF 

DEPENDENCY. 

i. The social ideal or purpose which should govern this 
treatment. The end determines the method. If the pur- 



34 DEPENDENTS. 

pose is not comprehensive and lofty the means will be 
narrow and inadequate. If we are to invent methods we 
must keep before us the object of the invention. 

" I hold you will not compass your poor ends 
Of barley - feeding and material ease, 
Without a poet's individualism 
To work your universal. It takes a soul 
To move a body ; it takes a high - souled man 

To move the masses even to a cleaner stye ; 

It takes the ideal, to blow a hair's breath off 

The dust of the actual 

Life develops from within." Mrs. Browning, "Aurora Leigh." 

To merely feed and clothe the poor is to treat them as 
animals and to treat ourselves as soulless things. The 
ideals of the "Kingdom of God," as presented in the 
words and actions of Jesus, are coming to be regarded as 
inclusive of all physical, intellectual, moral and eternal 
good for all men. The problems of caring for the poor 
are simply parts of the great purpose which runs through 
the ages. Society as a whole cannot move forward whiie 
the feeble members lag behind. And society cannot culti- 
vate the most refined nature while it witnesses without sym- 
pathy or rational effort to help the miseries of a great mul- 
titude of the less favored of its brotherhood. To the ideal 
aim of the Divine Kingdom of fraternity, all arts, all sciences 
contribute. Sociology is simply the name for the philoso- 
phy of the movement in that direction. 

2. Comprehensiveness. We must avoid riding hobbies to 
the extent of forgetting the labors of others who toil in 
different fields from our own. All the causes of depend- 
ency must be studied and considered. In the previous 
chapter we have endeavored to analyze these causes. 

All the remedial methods which promise good must be 



CARE OF DEPENDENTS. 3 5 

thoughtfully considered, and a method found for securing 
unity, harmony, and efficiency of action. Dr. Flint in his 
'" Practice of Medicine" has an analysis of the remedial 
methods of the healing art : " Prophylactic, abortive, curative, 
palliative, sanitary, hygienic, sustaining." The titles are 
very suggestive for us. 

3. Analysis. From time to time the students of Charity 
and Correction, and the public agents of aid and reforma- 
tion, should carefully analyze the classes of dependents for 
whom relief is sought. These classes should be located 
and measured, and the extent and nature of need should be 
published for the information of citizens. This is the end 
sought by the great charitable organizations, by the state 
and national boards and bureaus, and such agencies deserve 
the support and attention of all citizens of influence. 

4. Order of discussion. In considering the complex 
problems of charity we may adopt an order based on these 
classes who are in need, or on the kinds of social institu- 
tions provided for their care. Convenience of discussion 
requires that we follow now one now the other of these 
plans. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE RATIONAL GROUNDS OF STATE CARE OF DEPENDENTS. 

This is a question much debated by able men all over 
the civilized world. 

1. Objections to state aid. There is the view of men who 
oppose aid to dependents by the state on theoretical and on 



36 DEPENDENTS. 

practical grounds. It is said that the function of the state 
is to protect rights : that each social form has a special and 
peculiar function and does its best work when it does not 
attempt functions to which it is not adapted. It is also 
said that in practice state help is injurious. State charity 
is collected by taxation and is not a free gift. The tendency 
of the state system of helping the poor is to repress sym- 
pathy of individuals by removing occasion for its immediate 
exercise. Compulsory state aid interferes with the whole- 
some efforts of nature to weed out the inferior and incom- 
petent in the struggle for existence. The official poor law 
prevents the weak from adapting themselves to social con- 
ditions through the discipline of hardship and effort. State 
charity does not diminish but increases the sum total of 
human suffering. " Out of a given population, the greater 
the number living on the bounty of others, the smaller 
must be the number living by labor ; and the smaller 
the number living by labor, the smaller must be the pro- 
duction of food and other necessaries, the greater must be 
the distress." 

There are others who would limit the state care to in- 
door relief while they would not deny other forms of help 
to the poor from a state treasury. 

See Herbert Spencer, " Social Statics, " and " Man vs. the State," 

ed. 1892, p. 144. 
W. G. Sumner, "What Social Classes Owe to each Other." 
Thomas Chalmers, "The Christian and Civic Economy of Large 

Towns." 
Ratzinger, "Geschichte der kirchlichen Armenwesen," ed. 1884, S. 

541. 
Herzog, " Realencyclopaedia," Art. " Armenpflege." 
Naville, " De la Charite legale." 
Emminghaus, "Das Armenwesen und die Armengesetzgebung in 

den Europaischen Staaten." 



CARE. OF DEPENDENTS. 37 

2. Arguments in favor of state aid. Those who favor 
state relief found their argument upon various considera- 
tions of interest and duty. It has been said that the state 
should provide for cases of extreme distress in order to 
avoid revolutions stirred by desperate men, and to diminish 
the petty and annoying attacks upon property which arise 
from distress. The moral ground of state help is sometimes 
stated in this way : "The hospitals (of Illinois) are entirely 
free ; there is no charge to any individual ; on the ground 
that when a taxpayer pays his tax to maintain the insti- 
tution, he is entitled to the benefits of the institution if the 
occasion ever arises." (F. H. Wines, N. C. C. 1875, P- 22 )- 

This assumes that the state is the organ of society for 
its own convenience, and that citizens generally support it 
and are entitled to its advantages. Others teach that the 
members of society are under obligations to assist each 
other in misfortune and misery ; that the state is the 
only institution through which society can effectually mani- 
fest its sympathy and fostering care ; and that on this 
ground state care is to be based. "Every society upon 
arriving at a certain stage of civilization finds it positively 
necessary for its own sake, that is to say, for the satis- 
faction of its own humanity, and for the due perform- 
ance of the purposes for which societies exist, to provide 
that no person, no matter what has been his life, or what 
may be the consequences, shall perish for want of the bare 
necessaries of existence." Fowle, "The Poor Law," p. 10. 
J. S. Mill, " Political Economy : " " It will be admitted to be 
right that human beings should help one another, and the 
more so in proportion to the urgency of the need, and 
none need help so urgently as one who is starving." 

" The claim to help, therefore, created by destitution is 
one of the strongest which can exist, and there is prima 



38 DEPENDENTS. 

facie the amplest reason for making the relief of so extreme 
an exigency as certain to those who require it as by any 
arrangements of society it can be made." 

It is sometimes said that state charity, since it is col- 
lected by taxation and enforced by government, is not 
charity. This is only in part true. Those who are unwil- 
ling to be taxed for this purpose of course have no claim to 
the title of benevolence. But there is a diffused sentiment 
of humanity in a society which votes taxes for these pur- 
poses. The humane institutions which are supported in 
consequence of popular votes are witnesses to the existence 
of such sentiments of sympathy and philanthropy. On the 
other hand, even personal gifts to the distressed and indi- 
gent are sometimes the result of selfish considerations 
rather than of genuine humanity. 

3. Conclusion. Assuming that the members of society 
are under obligations to aid the unfortunate and feeble, it 
does not follow that this ought to be done through the 
state. All that follows is, that we should choose the most 
prudent and suitable method to effect the end. The state 
is not the only organ of society. It is necessary, therefore, 
to study inductively and deductively the results of past and 
present experience and to propose improvements after this 
study. 



CHAPTER IX. 

STATE CHARITIES: OUTDOOR RELIEF. 

" Indoor relief" is that which is administered in an insti- 
tution, as in a poor house, while " outdoor relief" is admin- 
istered in the homes of the indigent. 



OUTDOOR RELIEF. 39 

i. Historical and Comparative. It is not within the plan 
of this introduction to discuss the ancient forms of charity 
in the Roman, Greek, Hebrew, and early Christian states. 
As Mr. Sanborn illustrates in his article on Pauperism 
(Lalor's Cyclopaedia), the problem is not new. The 
attempts to mitigate the miseries of extreme poverty have 
initiated all kinds of experiments. 

In the Middle Ages were founded many church institu- 
tions for the care of the poor, many of which are still in 
existence. The monasteries were refuges of those in 
trouble. The Church was the chief almoner of mercy. The 
breaking up of the monasteries, and the ecclesiastical divis- 
ions of Protestantism, together with the new theories of 
rights of the laity, made it impossible for the Church to 
administer the charity of modern Europe. During the 
modern period each country has worked out its problem in 
its own way. 

In Greece, with its mild climate and low standard of 
comfort for the laborer, pauperism is not a serious matter 
for society. " In Greece, with a population of more than 
2,000,000, about as many as Massachusetts contains, there 
is, in fact, no public charity at all, or so little as to be prac- 
tically of no account. . . . All that is done in this way 
comes from endowments of wealthy persons, or subscrip- 
tions yearly made by the benevolent, the national govern- 
ment occasionally giving a piece of land or remitting a tax 
for the benefit of these private charities, but granting no 
subsidy, and never appropriating a yearly sum for regular 
expenses of support and relief. There is a strong opposi- 
tion, on the part of the endowed and private charities, to 
any action by the public authorities in the direction of vot- 
ing public money or assuming the oversight of indoor and 
outdoor relief. It seems to be feared that political inter- 



40 DEPENDENTS. 

ference with the private charities would be the result of 
state action, and that the care of the poor would become a 
part of the political machinery, and be less wisely managed 
than now." 

F. H. Sanborn, N. C. C, '90. 

In Italy the tendency is different. The government 

has for several years been assuming the control of all church 

and endowed charities. It has determined to unify the 

work of beneficence, and to limit their abuses and to stop 

begging. The systems of private and church charity in 

Italy have broken down, have failed to diminish suffering, 

have increased a shameless pauperism, and the state has 

been compelled to assume control. 

Papers of Mr. F. H. Sanborn, N. C. C, 1890, '91. 

Journal des Econo?nistes Oct. 1889. Nuova Antologia, May, 1 89 1. 

In Germany we see a system of state organized private 
charity. Relief is furnished by the state and administered 
by the state, but private persons are required to give their 
time and service in caring for the peculiar wants of each 
case. The "Elberfeld System" is the type of the German 
principle. 

Fo?'um, Dec. 1892. 

Schonberg's Handbuch Pol. Okonomie, Art. " Armenwesen." 
Emminghaus' "Das Armenwensen." N. C. C. 1891, p. 167. 
Jahrbuch fur Gesetzgebung, 1892, p. 187. 

The French system does not provide state funds for the 
poor to the extent that is done in Germany. "No one can 
do anything except through state machinery. Private char- 
ity supplies the funds, and the state machinery administers 
them. Indoor relief is restricted as far as possible ; families 
are encouraged to take care of their own poor." 

D. O. Kellogg, Atlantic Mag., May, 1883. 

Maurice Block, " Dictionnaire Administrative Francaise." 



OUTDOOR RELIEF. 4 1 

We note one tendency common to Italy, France, and 
Germany — the assumption by the state of control over all 
private and ecclesiastical charities. History shows reasons 
for this tendency. Private charity may create a demand 
for help which burdens the state with the load of the 
demoralized products of conflicting, irregular, and indis- 
criminating almsgiving. From sheer necessity the modern 
states have been compelled to have oversight of personal 
charity. 

A principle early adopted in various European coun- 
tries was that the local parish is responsible for the poor of 
that district. Two regulations seemed to follow logically 
from this principle, and they were tried on a large scale : 
that no person liable to become dependent should be per- 
mitted to secure a residence in a new parish, and that no 
person should marry without giving the poor authorities 
proof that he was able to support his family. The first of 
these regulations prevented the free movement of labor : a 
poor man out of employment in one district could not go 
to a place where his labor was likely to be needed. This 
increased dependency. This rule worked hardship to indi- 
gent strangers who fell sick in a place ; the duty of provid- 
ing for him was avoided lest he gain a residence, and he 
was liable to be carried off, at risk of his life, to his own 
parish. The other rule tended to demoralize the family. 
The poor authorities might prevent the marriage of those 
whom they regarded as too poor to marry, but they could 
not prevent illegitimate births. Both regulations were 
abandoned or modified. 

Art. " Armenwesen," Schonberg's Handbuch der Pol. Okon. 

The English poor laws are of great interest to Ameri- 
cans, because they have so largely influenced our legisla- 
tion and customs. After the breaking up of the monas- 



42 DEPENDENTS. 

teries, where misery found an asylum, the people began to 
respond to the calls of distress. Then legislators gave 
attention to beggary, which had become defiant and impu- 
dent. During the past thousand years English history 
notices the attempt of law and custom to relieve or repress 
beggars. Many of the statutes were cruel beyond belief 
and as inefficient as they were harsh. The sturdy solicitors 
of alms were sometimes made bloody with the lash and 
sometimes enslaved. But in the sixteenth century milder 
laws were enacted. It was decreed during the reign of 
Elizabeth that the parish officers should " gently solicit" 
help for the poor, and if this did not secure the necessary 
amount, the parson should exhort and admonish, and if 
these measures failed the jail was opened for the froward 
and obstinate miser. Later legislation of the time of Eliz- 
abeth is the real foundation of the poor laws which are 
copied in America. 

Art. " Pauperism," Lalor's Cyclopaedia. 
Fowle or Aschrott on the English Poor Law. 
NichoH's History of the English Poor Law. 
Eden's State of the Poor. 
Loch, "Charity Organization." 

The limits and scope of this work do not admit a his- 
torical sketch of ancient charities. 

For the charities of the Christian Church the following 

works may be used : 

R. S. Storrs, "The Divine Origin of Christianity Indicated by its 
Historical Effects." 

C. L. Brace, "Gesta Christi." 

Pfleiderer, " Philosophy of History," Vol. 3. 

The Church Histories of Fisher, Neander, Schaff. 

Uhlhorn's "Christian Charity in the Ancient Church." 

Bingham's "Antiquities." 

Schmidt, "The Social Results of Early Christianity." 

"Teachings of the Twelve Apostles," Ch. I. 



OUTDOOR RELIEF. 43 

On Hebrew Charities, consult : 

Ewald's "Antiquities." 

Schiirer's " The Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ." 

On the Roman method of caring for the poor, consult : 

Niebuhr, Arnold, Mommsen. 

De Coulanges, "The Ancient City." 

2. Outdoor Official Relief. — Arguments on both sides. 
No subject has caused more discussion and revealed wider 
differences of judgment among enlightened and benevolent 
persons. 

a) The case stated in favor of outdoor public relief of 
dependent families and persons. It is argued that the duty 
of caring for the poor of the community is common to all, 
and that the burden should be shared by all. This is 
impossible unless the fund for charity is raised by taxation. 
Under this system each contributes according to his wealth. 
It is also claimed that the agency of the state can secure 
more thorough investigation and prevent imposition*; that 
the charities of the state, indoor and outdoor, ought to be 
included under one harmonious and complete system in order 
to secure efficiency and economy ; that great public misfor- 
tunes cannot be relieved by private charity ; that vagrant 
beggars cannot be controlled by private agencies, but must 
be under police supervision ; that in Europe Church and 
private charity, in both Catholic and Protestant countries, 
has broken down, and there the State has been compelled 
to take charge of measures of relief ; that we cannot as yet 
depend upon personal charities to care for all the poor at 
all times, benevolence being fitful, unsystematic and local ; 
that there would be much indiscriminate almsgiving if it 
was not known that the most desperate cases would surely 
be provided for by the state. 



44 DEPENDENTS. 

b) On the other hand it is claimed by those who would 
abolish- outdoor public relief : that it is unnecessary, since 
private charity would meet all needs if it were known that 
taxation for this purpose could not be expected ; that 
official relief is too costly, since those who administer it do 
not feel the sacrifice of giving ; that the existence of a public 
fund invites political corruption ; that the system separates 
the poor from the successful, and reduces the social bond 
to the single point where the pauper meets the paid officer 
of state charity ; that the system extinguishes benevolence 
in the rich and gratitude in the poor ; that it fosters com- 
munistic sentiments, and educates the poor to regard the 
state treasury as the natural source of their livelihood ; that 
it tends to lower wages, since the assisted pauper can afford 
to work at a lower rate than his unassisted poor neighbor ; 
that it tends to excite hostility against "the state, since it 
awakens hopes which no government can meet ; that it 
tends to make many citizens depend on the community 
more than on their own energy, foresight and economy, 
and so demoralizes and pauperizes them ; and that by pro- 
ducing idleness it increases misery by reducing the sum of 
commodities which can be enjoyed. 

c) Judgment of the case. We are obliged to deal with 
a relatively permanent fact, that outdoor official relief is a 
part of our social custom, side by side with voluntary bene- 
ficence. Both forms of relief are liable to abuses. Church 
and private charity in Italy and France produced increasing 
beggary, and the same evils grew to unbearable proportions 
under the poor law of England. The worst evils are due 
more to the character of the people, and to existing social 
forces and opportunities, than to any particular system of 
relief, At present it is a question of administration, and 
practical measures must be directed to the improvement of 



OUTDOOR RELIEF. 45 

methods of administration. With a reformed poor law 
England was able to diminish its pauperism while continu- 
ing outdoor official relief. 

See N. C. C. 1891 and 1890. 

Mrs. C. R. Lowell on " The Economical and Moral Effects of Public 

Outdoor Relief." 
Mr. Seth Low, N. C. C. 1879. 

3. Principles of administration of outdoor official relief. 

a) As to officials. These are either county or township 
or municipal. Very generally in the North the county 
commissioners control the expenditure, and township 
trustees act as almoners with considerable power and often 
little responsibility. The German experience should teach 
us that all boards of control should be unsalaried persons 
of repute in the community, appointed and not elected. 
Their agents should be appointed upon a fixed salary, and 
should continue in office during good behavior, since 
experience is of great value. All boards should be com- 
posed of persons of both parties, so as to be non-partisan. 
Local charities should be inspected by state agents of the 
central board, b) The modes of assessing, collecting, dis- 
bursing and auditing funds should be governed by general 
laws, c) Recipients should be residents. Help to non- 
residents, aided in time of exigency by local authorities, is 
to be charged to the county of residence or to the common- 
wealth. Immigration of paupers from one district to 
another by aid of authorities should be prevented by com- 
mon agreement and legislation, d) The forms of applica- 
tion and regulations as to investigation and records are to 
be fixed by state laws. Aid should be given in articles 
of primary necessity, as food, fuel and clothing. Never 
is it safe to give money, and seldom general orders. In 
cities medical attendance and medicines are necessities to 



46 DEPENDENTS. 

be furnished by the poor authorities if not otherwise pro- 
vided. Often these are supplied by private institutions. It 
is seldom well to give money for rent, and never to set up 
in business or buy tools. " The fundamental principle 
with respect to the relief of the poor is, that the condition 
of the pauper ought to be, on the whole, less eligible than 
that of the independent laborer." The poorest independ- 
ent laborer ought not to be worse off than the pauper he 
helps, and the pauper himself should not be rewarded for 
depending on the exertions of others, e) Repressive meas- 
ures. It is necessary first of all to make the nearest rela- 
tives of a dependent person feel the responsibility of his 
care. The prospect of the poor house for those who are 
unwilling to work when able, and the manifestation of 
social reaction against unsocial pauperism are desirable in' 
the limitation of dependency. But cure and not revenge 
must control repressive measures. State officials do Avell 
to cooperate with private charities and associated efforts to 
correct abuses. Benevolent societies often care for curable 
cases, and leave the hopeless paupers to the county author- 
ities. 



CHAPTER X. 

MEDICAL CHARITIES. 



These forms of philanthropic effort are very necessary, 
and they are as little abused as any. Sickness or accident 
may disable the most industrious and honorable person. 

1. Hospitals, a) Mode of support. A hospital may be 
supported by the state or city, by corporations of benevo- 
lent persons, by endowments, by subsidies from the public 



MEDICAL CHARITIES. 47 

treasury to private institutions, and partly by fees received 
from those able to pay. All these methods are actually in 
use. It is a serious question whether a city should ever 
subsidize a private or church hospital. The danger of 
scandal is great. Hospitals may continue to exist which 
are not needed because the subsidy keeps them alive. For the 
Brooklyn experience see N. C. C, 1890, p. 177. b) Classifica- 
tion. In small communities hospitals are not so specialized 
as in cities. " General hospitals" receive all cases except 
contagious and infectious diseases. " Emergency hospitals " 
are provided for persons requiring immediate help. Special 
hospitals are often provided by public authorities for classes 
of cases demanding separation. "Pest houses" are usually 
erected for times of small -pox, cholera, yellow fever. 
They may be temporary or permanent structures. Special 
hospitals for the treatment of scarlet fever and diphtheria 
are not so common as they should be. In suppressing 
these plagues such institutions would afford valuable assist- 
ance. Almshouses have infirmarv wards for the sick. 
Marine hospitals are supported partly by the government 
and partly by fees from sailors. In connection with efforts 
to suppress loathsome disease and the pauperism that 
accompanies it, it is urged that state hospitals for venereal 
diseases are needed, where persons afflicted with these dan- 
gerous maladies can be kept for two years or more until 
they are well, or as nearly sound as medical art can make 
them. N. C. C, 1889, p. 57. 

c) Social interest in the internal arrangement and man- 
agement of hospitals centers in the method of securing com- 
petent officers. Nowhere is it more important to have expert 
service. But visitors of ordinary intelligence can keep 
before them some principles of judgment. The public 
can know whether a hospital is clean and efficient according 



48 DEPENDENTS. 

to reasonable standards. Friendly cooperation of citizens 
with the authorities may prevent abuses. N. C. C, 1891, 
"Hospital Cleanliness," 1890, p. 155; "Hospital govern- 
ment and its relation to the city. " d) Where a hospital is 
supported by the public its government should be vested in 
a non - partisan board, appointed and not elected. These 
boards should be composed of men and women of first 
rank of intelligence and character, and from various pro- 
fessions. It is thought best to have a business man, not a 
physician, for superintendent. But the physicians in 
charge should be secured power corresponding to their 
responsibility. Principles of civil service reform should 
regulate admission and discharge of employes, e) Hospitals 
should avoid encouraging pauperism. "Physicians owe it 
to themselves to do less unpaid work among the poor. No 
profession and no class of men do so much without hope 

of reward The hospital and out - patient department 

ought to relieve them of this unrequited toil. All patients 
who resort to hospitals, except the destitute and abject poor, 
ought to pay something for hospital care. .... Charity 
given indiscriminately is demoralizing. It begets thriftless- 
ness and improvidence and leads to pauperization. " (Dr. 
Hurd, N. C. C, 1890, p. 162.) In spite of the danger of 
pauperizing the dependent the hospital performs important 
social functions. It gives the poor the most important 
help ; it promotes medical science ; it trains students of the 
healing art ; it trains capable nurses, whose character and 
services are of the highest order. 

2. Out-patients. The medical staff of a hospital fre- 
quently render aid to the poor patients in their homes. 
This gives practice to young physicians under the direction 
of their instructors. The perils are, that other physicians 



MEDICAL CHARITIES. 49 

may be robbed of legitimate sources of income, the poor 
may be pauperized, and inefficient service may result in 
injury to the patients. 

3. Dispensaries are connected with hospitals or may be 
separate. The danger of pauperizing dependents reappears 
here. Some persons will accept medicine who would refuse 
food or clothing. Physicians and benevolent persons 
should limit these abuses by the methods of inquiry used 
in the Association of Charities. Subsidies from a public 
treasury increase the danger of perversion. 

4. City and county physicians. These are provided at 
public expense and generally are paid salaries. It is not to 
be expected that the highest ability can be thus secured, 
but it is important to the patients and the public that the 
office be awarded on grounds apart from political services 
for a party. It would appear wise to have city physicians 
appointed by Boards of Health, subject to discharge by 
them, with a report of reasons to the Mayor. 

5. Training Schools for Nurses. No higher service is 
rendered to humanity than by this Agency. But nurses are 
often overworked. They should be protected by statute. 
The school should be under the control of the board gov- 
erning the hospital, and should not be independent of it. 

6. Boards of Health, city and state. The chief function 
of these bodies is to prevent disease. They should be 
appointed in every community. The relations of the local 
board to the state board need to be carefully defined in 
order to avoid collision in time of plague. These boards 
render valuable service to society in the inspection of immi- 



50 DEPENDENTS. 

grants at ports, and in watching conditions favorable to the 
increase of preventable diseases. By improving the con- 
ditions of life they make recovery more certain and rapid, 
and sickness less common. Thus they diminish depend- 
ency which often begins with a disabling sickness. 

Of medical charity in general it maybe said that "a 
large number of acute cases of disease would, but for their 
intervention, become chronic and permanently disabling," 
By the diffusion of knowledge on subjects of hygiene and 
sanitation the medical authorities may diminish social loss. 
(N. C. C. 1883, p. 433 ; 1875, P- 5 2 ; 1877, p. 31 ; 1891, p. 
52 ; 1890, p. no). Also other years of N. C. C, 



CHAPTER XL 



THE COUNTY POOR HOUSE. 



During the earlier history of our country, when popu- 
lation was scant and scattered, friendless and dependent 
persons were generally cared for by local officers through a 
system of boarding -out among farmers. Apparently we 
are slowly returning to an early custom when we adopt this 
method. As the communities came to be more complex it 
was found difficult to secure proper care of indigent per- 
sons who needed shelter. Dependent children were bound 
out and poor houses were erected for indoor relief. Into 
these receptacles flowed all sorts of rejected social material ; 
the aged, the sick, the insane, the forsaken children, the 
inebriate, the blind, the deaf mute, the worn - out criminal, 
the epileptic, the demented and paralytic. And as the 
poor farm was the most unattractive place in the county, 



THE COUNTY POOR HOUSE. 



51 



and as the inmates were friendless, the most abominable 
abuses grew up, and in many places still continue. 

The English Almshouse as it existed early in this century 
was painted by Crabbe ("The Village/' Book I). 

" Thus groan the old, till by disease oppressed, 
They taste a final woe, and then they rest. 
Their's is yon House that holds the parish poor, 
Whose walls of mud scarce bear the broken door ; 
There, where the putrid vapors, flagging, play, 
And the dull wheel hums doleful through the day ; — 
There children dwell who know no parents' care ; 
Parents, who know no children's love, dwell there ! 
Heart - broken matrons on their joyless bed, 
Forsaken wives, and mothers never wed, 
Dejected widows with unheeded tears, 
And crippled age with more than childhood fears ; 
The lame, the blind, and far the happiest they ! 
The moping idiot, and the madman gay. 

Here, too, the sick their final doom receive, 
Here brought, amid the scenes of grief, to grieve." 

Our American poor houses are usually well built and are 
often almost palatial. They are not made of mud. But 
many still retain the mixed, unclassified and miserable 
population described above. 



1. Principles of Management. — As a matter of fact, the 
poor house is governed nominally by county commission- 
ers, and actually by some person appointed by them for 
political considerations. In spite of this vicious custom, 
many excellent appointments are made, and in consequence 
of this method multitudes of bad appointments are made 
or good superintendents are hampered. Employes should 
be appointed and continued under civil service rules, a 
doctrine entirely sound and usually ignored. The resi- 
dents of the asylum should be required to work as far as 



$2 DEPENDENTS. 

they are able, not only to earn their living, but to promote 
their health and happiness. Private and church charity 
can find a field for exercise in the poor house by furnish- 
ing religious services and music, by directing recreations 
for the old people, and by securing for them, especially for 
old women in winter, some work which they are competent 
to do. The visits of intelligent and benevolent persons at 
regular times would prevent the worst abuses and adminis- 
ter much comfort. (N. C. C, 1890, p. 107). Careful rules 
should govern the admission and departure of inmates. 
The poor house should not be a comfortable winter harbor 
for tramps and a sobering place for drunkards. It should 
not be used to foster vice by becoming a foundling asylum, 
"with no questions asked. " The buildings should be sub- 
stantial, but very plain and unadorned. They are some- 
times so fine in appearance and appointments as to show 
marked contrast with the average homes of modest tax- 
payers who support them. The life should not be so 
attractive as to furnish a positive motive for men to desert 
honest industry for a residence in the county mansions. 

2. Classification. — The tendency in our day is to special- 
ize institutions. All are agreed that children should not 
be kept in county asylums with paupers, and Michigan and 
Massachusetts have led the way in this important reform. 
Dickens said: " Throw a child under a cart-horse's feet 
and a loaded wagon sooner than take him to an alms- 
house. " State institutions are provided for the dependent 
blind and for deaf mutes. The actual criminals are, of 
course, furnished separate accommodations. But the crying 
evil still demands remedy that respectable and unfortunate 
persons, people who have worked honestly and hard all 
their lives, are forced to reside in their friendless and 



THE COUNTY POOR HOUSE. 53 

unprotected old age with persons who in character and 
habit are still criminals in all except the power to execute 
criminal intentions. Still remains the wrong of compelling 
the same dependent to live in contact with demented per- 
sons whose filthy habits and strange manner are repulsive 
beyond description. It is manifest that the classification 
of the poor in the county house needs to be carried much 
further. Perhaps the time will come when most of the 
dependents will be scattered about and boarded in families, 
under state supervision, while those who require institu- 
tional treatment will be divided among a few special insti- 
tutions adapted to their peculiar needs. The county poor 
house, like the county jail, is a disgrace that we should 
wipe out. 

See views of Mr. Sanborn and Bishop Gillespie (N. C. C, 
1890, p. 79 andxxiii.) Letchworth's "Poor House Adminis- 
tration. 7 ' Report Illinois Board, 1890, a detailed description 
of the state of poor houses in this state, as it applies to 
the country generally. (N. C. C, 1879, P- 9^)- Statutes of 
the various states show the form of early legislation, espe- 
cially the statutes before 1850. 

3. Categories of inspection for visitors to poor houses. — A 
person with ordinary standards of comfort and a healthy 
olfactory organ may study a poor house with advantage by 
observing facts relating to these points : First, physical 
conditions; site, drainage, light, accessibility, buildings; 
materials, form, style, cost, adaptation to classes relieved, 
sewage and drainage, disposal of night soil, ventilation, 
cleanliness of floors, walls, cellars, food, dietary and cook- 
ing ; bathing, clothing, washing, ironing. Secondly, social 
and moral conditions ; provision for the intellectual life, as 
reading matter, pictures, music, amusements ; provision for 
the religious life, books, services, friendly visits ; useful 



54 DEPENDENTS. 

industry ; classification, separation of sexes, absence of 
children, separation of insane and other defectives who are 
injurious in such a place. Thirdly, administration ; powers 
and duties of the commissioners in control ; local officers, 
titles, mode of appointment and tenure of office, duties ; 
woman attendants on the woman's side; treatment of vis- 
itors and inmates ; discipline in work, hours of sleep and 
meals, conversation, recreation, punishments ; cost per 
capita, conditions of admission and discharge, and the 
judgment of the officers on all these points. 



CHAPTER XII. 

HOMELESS DEPENDENTS. 

A distinction is sometimes made between tramps and 
vagrants ; the former having no legal settlement, while the 
latter may claim relief in a certain district. Both must be 
carefully distinguished from unemployed destitute persons 
who honestly travel in search of work. The problem of 
the unemployed is not new. The breaking up of the 
monasteries before and at the Reformation left thousands 
of the homeless without resources. The people, knowing 
their need, gave them alms at their doors, sometimes urged 
by threats and sometimes induced by charity. The evils of 
beggary rose to alarming proportions. Then followed 
repressive measures and the poor laws of all European 
nations. Part of the criminal code has always touched 
these evils. The object of such statutes is to bring under 
police control all those persons who, without actually com- 
mitting any trespass, are guilty of habits inconsistent with 
the good order of society. 



HOMELESS DEPENDENTS. 55 

The statistics on this subject are very unsatisfactory. 
In Massachusetts in 1887, out of 816,470 engaged in gain- 
ful occupations 29.59 per cent, were unemployed at their 
principal occupations. We may expect more full and 
accurate reports in the new census. The extent of enforced 
idleness varies not only with the years of prosperity and 
reverses, but with seasons and weather. Conclusions based 
on fragmentary statements of facts are of little value. 

1. Enforced Idleness is caused by general and by per- 
sonal conditions, industrial depression, strikes and lockouts, 
cessation of works for repairs, and also by physical weak- 
ness, mental infirmity, and, most of all, by absence of skill 
and special training. During times of enforced idleness 
the danger of acquiring pauper habits of thought and feel- 
ing is increased. Relief measures. Employment bureaus 
in private hands are very liable to abuse, although the busi- 
ness is honorable. Many of these agencies rank with pawn- 
shops in the degree of injustice to the poor. Employment 
bureaus in connection with churches, the Y. M. C. A., and 
other societies, are useful within a limited range. The 
Association of Charities secures employment for many 
persons in cities. Few skilled workers ever apply to such 
bureaus. In Ohio the state legislature adopted a plan to 
promote the " mobilization " of labor. The Ohio reports 
of 1890 and afterward give plan and results. The trade- 
unions help to diffuse information as to the places where 
work is most needed in special callings. Probably a union 
of all these agencies, under the direction of a national 
bureau, would be the most efficient method of reducing this 
evil within narrow limits. But education in trades and arts 
would do more. We leave out of account the theories as to 
new schemes of taxation which to many seem promising. 



56 DEPENDENTS. 

It seems probable that, through agreements of employers 
and unions, a better distribution of time over the year 
might be made. National statistics of the condition of 
trade, published frequently and regularly, would aid those 
seeking to come together as employer and employed. 

2. The Tramp. — The tramp is a vagrant beggar, in 
whom the roving disposition which characterizes defective 
natures is highly developed. He is a modern Bedouin. The 
tramp is a distinct social peril. He carries vermin and 
loathsome contagious diseases from place to place. In his 
person and habits syphilis finds a nidus. He communi- 
cates his disposition and disease to his children. He 
is a constant and ubiquitous menace to life and property. 
He is a venal voter in dense communities, and a corrupt- 
ing element in politics. See Mr. J. J. McCook's articles in 
Charities Revieiv, June, 1892. Tramps constitute a great 
part of the force of chronic offenders and drunkards who 
march in procession before city police judges and receive 
short sentences. Free soup houses only increase the 
plague. Work must ever accompany relief. Any remedy 
which helps tramps at the expense of the industrious poor, 
as by taking work away from the sober to give it to the 
drunkard, cannot fail to hurt society. In Europe various 
experiments are being tried which should be watched with 
interest. The German labor-colonies attempt to give a 
temporary resting place for wanderers, together with an 
opportunity to work and learn something useful. Their 
success has not been very great. The Dutch home-colonies 
aim to provide a permanent home for those whose weakness 
and inefficiency unfit them for competition in free society. 
General Booth and the Salvation Army have set on foot a 
scheme of gigantic proportions which is the object of 



HOMELESS DEPENDENTS. 57 

world-wide interest and discussion. (See Part IV. on Pre- 
ventive Measures). 

In the United States many methods have been tried 
with varying success. Severe repressive laws have, perhaps, 
driven these wanderers from a locality or state, without 
diminishing the evil at large. The Associations of Charity 
in cities seek to arrest persistent beggars, to investigate the 
stories of all applicants, to offer work to all who are in 
extreme distress. In the present state of things this method 
is the best known. Tramps should be treated humanely, 
for they are human and many are capable of reformation. 
Their sentiments that give promise of amendment are seen 
in the stories of Bret Harte. The first effort should be to 
classify vagrants according to the causes and tendencies of 
their unsocial habit. Confirmed inebriates should be 
segregated and given special employment. Those unfit for 
the struggle of city life might be colonized, and some would 
be rehabilitated and trained for useful service and happi- 
ness. 

Willink, "Dutch Home Labor Colonies." 

Booth's " In Darkest England," and the criticisms of Loch, Bosan- 
quet and Dwyer. 

Huxley's "Social Diseases and Worse Remedies." 

Gadderbaum's "Die Arbeiter Kolonie." 

"German Labor Colonies" (Peabody) Forum, February, 1892. 

Warner, " Some Experiments on Behalf of the Unemployed ; " 
Quarterly Journal of Economy, October, 1 890, and July, 1892. 

" History of Vagrants and Vagrancy," by Ribton-Turner. 

G. Berthold, " Statistik der deutschen Arbeiter Kolonien." 

Mills, "Poverty and the State," N. C. C. 1886, p. 188, and 1891, p. 
168. 

English Poor Law Report, 1834 (History of English Experience). 

Schonberg's "Handbuch Pol. Okon." 

Luther's " Book of Beggars." 

Rogers', " Six Centuries of W T ork and Wages." 

Greene's "History of the English People." 



58 DEPENDENTS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

VOLUNTARY CHARITIES. 

i. Individual. — In personal gifts the relation is most 
like that of family or neighborly service. Assistance ren- 
dered with the evident purpose of humiliating the recipient 
and exalting the patron is not of charity but of pride. The 
best help is that which is rendered as a social act between 
friends. Such giving requires tact and love. Indiscrimi- 
nate alms -giving is a distinct social peril. The act of 
benevolence is private, but the effect is public, social. 
(Johns Hopkins University Studies, No. 2). The best pri- 
vate relief is that which prevents the needy person from 
becoming a public charge. Often a loan with counsel is 
better than a gift. The highest gift for the depressed is 
fellowship in thought, wisdom and sympathy. No citizen 
can afford to give to strangers without using the mediation 
of the Association of Charities, in large communities. 
Even in improving material conditions a poor person with 
intelligence and patience may often help a dependent 
family more than money could do. There is work for all. 
Large gifts are most useful in establishing and endowing 
institutions, as hospitals, schools, libraries, dispensaries. In 
experimental charity, preventive schemes and educational 
beneficence, private munificence finds its safest field. The 
state is slow to act on new ground. Large communities 
are not easily led to consider swiftly changing conditions 
and needs. During the initial stages of an enterprise vig- 
orous and successful men may carry public service until all 



VOLUNTARY CHARITIES. 59 

are educated to appreciate it. Examples are numerous 

and increasing ; the Peabody Funds for housing the poor, 

and for educating the colored people ; the Slater Fund ; 

the Pratt, Drexel, Cooper and Armour Institutes. The 

societies for preventing cruelty to animals and children, the 

societies for aiding discharged prisoners, kindergartens, and 

manual training and trade schools must generally be started 

by individual givers. 

Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth," And. Rev., June, 1 89 1. 
Nor. Am. Rev., April and May, 1891. 

Nineteenth Cent., November and December, 1890, and March, 1891. 
Articles by Gladstone, Manning, Felix Adler, Hughes, Gibbons, 
Potter, Phelps, Chamberlain. 

2. Benevolent Relief Societies. — (a) Origin. State aid is 
not adequate to meet all needs. The amount and kind of 
aid determined by law and rule must be suited to an aver- 
age case and cannot take account of special conditions. 
Many persons would suffer, even to starvation, rather than 
associate with paupers in a public office and have their 
names recorded in a public register. Self respect is social 
wealth, and should be preserved by delicate personal care. 
The resources of money and time of benevolent indi- 
viduals are not adequate to meet all these cases, and must 
be combined. Out of these conditions arise relief socie- 
ties, (b) Having already (Ch. ix.-xi.) shown the laws regu- 
lating outdoor relief by the state, it is not necessary to 
repeat those principles here. Voluntary societies must 
observe economical laws as well as the state, or distress is 
increased. (V) Perils attending these organizations. They 
may be unduly multiplied. There are too many philan- 
thropists who get the credit for starting societies which 
others must afterwards support in order to save the credit 
of the community. They may overlap, several societies 



60 DEPENDENTS. 

covering the same ground, while other ground is neglected. 
Relatively less deserving societies often absorb the available 
charity resources of a community by their loud and per- 
sistent advertising. The expense of management is fre- 
quently out of proportion to the volume of work needed. 
The officers of a society may become a close corporation 
without responsibility, and abuses have often come from 
this cause. Pauperism is actually encouraged in order to 
show the public reason for the existence of the society. 
Depending, as they must, on impulsive benevolence, they 
may fail just when they are most needed. These evils have 
all been observed in this country and abroad, (d) Modes 
of raising funds. The only unobjectionable, and the most 
effective method, is to present all the facts to the public 
and ask for contributions. Questionable methods are 
those which appeal to mixed motives, and fail to educate 
the community in genuine charity. Such are all the ways 
resorted to of raising funds by spectacles, entertainments, 
plays, balls. A more refined age will see the shocking 
contrast between the occasion of sport and the miseries it 
is thought to relieve. Sorrow and shame should not be 
associated with splendor, extravagance and luxury. Let the 
occasion of mirth justify itself, but not make a pretext 
of heaven-born charity. The indirect methods are often 
very costly and the expenses swallow up the income. 
While something may be said for such questionable modes, 
absolutely nothing can be argued in favor of raising money 
by gambling, lotteries and kindred devices. Gambling 
habits are among the chief causes of pauperism and crime, 
and they need no stimulation from reputable people. 

3. Church Charities. — Most churches take up collections 
for indigent members. Usually these are not very great in 



VOLUNTARY CHARITIES. 6 1 

amount nor very liable to abuse. Some churches have not 
made anything like adequate provision for their unfortu- 
nate members ; but this is not common. The Society of 
St. Vincent of Paul is well worth the study of Protestants, 
and it is doing an excellent work in many Roman Catholic 
parishes. After what has been said it is not necessary to 
repeat the principles of relief. There is a great danger 
which Dr. Chalmers pointed out that the promise of material 
help may act as a cause of hypocrisy. A hungry person is 
greatly tempted to lie and profess any faith for food and 
drink. By cooperation through an association of charities 
these dangers are reduced to a minimum. The most hope- 
ful church charities are educational. Alms seldom afford 
permanent relief, but one who knows how to live can take 
care of himself. Kindergartens, kitchen gardens, day nur- 
series, sewing schools, physical-culture classes, mothers' 
meetings (without bribes), penny- saving schemes, cheerful 
entertainments which instruct, musical and other artistic 
pleasures, friendly visits in homes on a basis of genuine 
fellowship, are some of the ways in which churches may 
best labor for the uplifting of the poor. The undeveloped 
resources of the poor themselves have never yet been 
measured. 

4. Endowed Charities. — There are relatively permanent 
needs of communities which are best provided for by secure 
incomes. Certain classes of persons and certain districts 
are apt to be forgotten. But it is also true that endow- 
ments are often perverted. The original direction of the 
bequest may be unwise. The conditions may so change 
that the income of the fund is no longer required for the 
purpose designated. The fund may create a demand for it 
far beyond the power of society to meet. The right of the 



62 DEPENDENTS. 

" dead hand " to control forever the use of gifts must be 
limited by the commonwealth. The living world cannot 
be ruled from the grave. Respect for the dead and for 
public documents must not ruin the present generation. 
Endowments are presumably for the good of men : if they 
become evil the original purpose must be regarded. Endow- 
ments must be under the control of the state. 

5. The State, in the last analysis, is the only organiza- 
tion which can control the whole field of charity. Indi- 
vidual charity is more tender and personal ; voluntary 
societies are more responsive to sudden calls and unex- 
pected sufferings ; the church can employ a higher range 
of spiritual forces ; but the state alone is the organ of all 
members of society, and it alone has an acknowledged 
right to supervise and govern all institutions. The state 
should never subsidize private and church charities, and 
only in extreme and special cases employ such agencies 
and pay for definite services actually rendered. The state 
does not seem to be a proper agency for the distribution of 
private, social or church contributions, especially for out- 
door relief, although it must be confessed that France and 
Germany have much to teach us on this point. On one 
point, however, there can be little question, when one has 
surveyed the history of charities : the state alone can inspect 
and control special benevolence, and this right to control 
is more and more necessary with the advance of civilization 
and the increasing number and complexity of social mem- 
bership. It appears probable that in the future this kind 
of state action, with cooperation between public and private 
persons, will increase in the United States. Scandals con- 
nected with many private institutions already call for 
searching investigation and vigorous action. 



CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 63 

See N. C. C, 1889, " Our Charities and our Churches," 
by Dr. A. G. Warner. " Parish Problems," by W. Gladden, 

and0,hers ' fi>**l* - MosuL. m 

CHAPTER XIV. 

CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 

Under this title we may discuss all those institutions 
whose purpose is to secure harmony and efficiency in bene- 
volent efforts. 

1. Municipal and Town Organization. — a) Principles and 
objects. These are carefully stated in the publications of 
the societies. The object which includes all is, the pro- 
motion of whatever tends to the permanent improvement 
of the condition of the poor. In particular, the object is 
to study the causes of pauperism and to reduce vagrancy 
and dependency ; to prevent indiscriminate and duplicate 
giving ; to secure the community from imposture ; to see 
that all deserving cases of destitution are properly relieved ; 
to make employment the basis of relief; to elevate the 
home life, health and habits of the poor ; to prevent chil- 
dren from growing up paupers. The New York Society 
proposes: (1) " To be a center of intercommunication 
between the various churches and charitable agencies in the 
city ; to foster harmonious cooperation between them, and 
to check the evils of the overlapping of relief : (2) To 
investigate thoroughly, and without charge, the cases of all 
applicants for relief which are referred to the society for 
inquiry, and to send the persons having a legitimate inter- 
est in such cases full reports of the results of investigation ; 



64 DEPENDENTS. 

and to provide visitors who shall personally attend cases 
needing counsel and advice : (3) To obtain from the pro- 
per charities and charitable individuals suitable and ade- 
quate relief for deserving cases : (4) To procure work for 
poor persons who are capable of being wholly or partially 
self-supporting : (5) To repress mendicity by the above 
means and by the prosecution of impostors : (6) To pro- 
mote the general welfare of the poor by social and sanitary 
reforms, and by the inculcation of habits of providence and 
self-dependence." 

A society claiming to do the work of charity on modern 
principles should provide distinctly for ail these objects. 
In the degree to which they are carried out the society is 
successful. Methods must be adapted to the local condi- 
tions, although some elements are universally necessary, as 
the office for registration, the personal visitors, the gratuitous 
inquiry, the prompt response, the uniform system of records. 

6) Organization. The membership is usually composed 
of all persons who contribute annually to the funds. Some 
local municipal officers, as mayor, officers of the poor, and 
delegates from churches and charitable societies, become 
members ex officio, or by designation. The usual officers 
are elected at the annual meeting, as president, vice-presi- 
dents, treasurer. The general • secretary is the essential 
person, and he may be elected or appointed by the directors, 
and should be salaried in order to give his time to the 
work. Women have succeeded as secretaries. Special 
training is very desirable here. The office is beginning to 
command eminent service of college graduates. 

In large cities a central council, with additional district 
councils, are organized for the consideration of general 
principles and for determining the treatment of particular 
cases. 



CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 65 

In forming a new society it is desirable to have the 
personal visit of an expert. 

c) Friendly visitors are persons who volunteer to 
befriend the poor. A society should not wait for these to 
offer their services. Incompetent visitors do harm. Busy 
people think they have no time. But if a particular family 
of dependents is assigned to a man he is more likely to 
accept the responsibility. In Germany citizens are obliged 
by law to accept such work, and persons of highest social 
position do not shirk. In the handbooks published by 
the societies hints will be found for all classes of cases. 
Thousands of persons have been encouraged and directed 
to self-support who, without such friendly interest, would 
have continued to be a public charge. In many cases, 
where a dependent person belongs to some church, or has 
an inclination for any, he is brought into the circle of that 
church. 

It is necessary, however, that the ordinary visitors of the 
society should not use their position for any kind of 
proselyting. " Every department of this work shall be com- 
pletely severed from all questions of religious belief, 
politics or nationality." Yet the society *is at liberty to 
strengthen any natural bond of fellowship, whether of 
religious beliefs, family, or nationality, and this service is 
often all that is required. 

d) Relief. On this point societies follow different poli- 
cies. Probably the tendency of the most careful students 
of experience is toward the New York platform: "The 
society shall not directly dispense alms in any form." The 
reasons given are, that enough relief is already provided 
by many societies, if it were properly distributed ; that if 
relief is given in material forms the primary and character- 
istic object, — to lift people above dependence, — may be 



66 DEPENDENTS. 

lost out of sight ; that a society for organizing all relief 
agencies should not compete with any of them, but should 
be the servant of all, while independent of each. 

It is claimed, on the other hand, in some places, that 
the same officers can administer relief and keep the com- 
mon records ; that expenses of administration are thus 
diminished ; and that equal efficiency can be secured. It 
is urged by friends of both methods that all the principal 
charities ought to have their central offices under one roof, 
so that action may be intelligent, prompt and harmonious. 

In some cities the society does not give alms, but has 
associated with it a relief society to aid in case of material 
need. In other cities it is found sufficient to ask certain 
benevolent citizens to help as occasion arises. If a fund is 
known to be on hand applicants will flock in to claim their 
share as if they had a right to it. This embarrasses effort 
to prevent beggary. 

e) In small communities it is quite as important to have 
charity organization as in cities. Each county, at least, 
should bring its benevolent forces into regiment. "Pauper 
families arise largely in small communities and ultimately 
drift to the larger ones. The large cities have enough to 
do in caring for the 56 per cent, of paupers who are foreign- 
born, for it is to them that the indigent alien first makes 
his way. The American pauper should be cared for where 
he originates. " (Mr. Rosenau). 

(N. C. C. 1887, and 1891, p. 31). Mrs. Lowell's paper on 
this subject is published in tract form. 

A county or township conference might study the 
conditions which are unfavorable to vigorous, healthy, 
manly life, and which tend to increase pauperism and 
crime. It might study how, to promote objects of advan- 
tage to all the community, as well as of special classes, as 



CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 6j 

drainage, schools, public reading rooms, libraries, decent 
bathing places, clean and orderly streets, the preservation 
of peace and good morals, the enforcement of liquor laws. 
It might do much to educate public opinion on such sub- 
jects. It could confer with public officers to secure their 
cooperation. It could establish courses of lectures, pro- 
mote suitable industrial education for adults, training 
schools for boys and girls, and the collection of small sav- 
ings among those liable to grow up with improvident habits. 
It could bring music and pictures within the reach of the 
poorest ; and it could encourage the formation of clubs for 
study among those who have left school. In all ways it 
might cultivate a civic spirit of duty and fellowship through 
common interests of broad and noble purpose. Much of 
our national pauperism comes from the congestion of 
population in cities, and much of the drift to cities is 
caused by the awful monotony and vacuity of country and 
village life. Such a society, working in many places, would 
help arrest this tendency. It is true that church and lodge 
already work in this direction, but a society is needed to 
hold all the best elements together for mutual advantage, 
and to prevent the degradation of those in special peril. 
It is evident without argument that a society in a small 
community must be less special and more comprehensive 
than in a city. 

/) Results. The usefulness of a relief society of the 
old type is popularly measured by the number of its clients 
and the amount of help given ; but the success of an 
organization society is measured by the decrease of depend- 
ents. Actual results of scientific methods have been shown 
in decrease of outdoor and indoor relief of appeals for aid, 
and of tramps ; in greater harmony between churches and 
societies for relief ; in increase of industrial, educational and 



68 DEPENDENTS. 

preventive charity ; in the establishment of friendly rela- 
tions between prosperous and indigent persons, with mutual 
advantage ; in the improvement of local government ; in 
the enforcement of neglected statutes relating to vice, 
cruelty to animals and children, sanitation, tenement 
houses, and in the promotion of provident and mutual 
benefit schemes. The cost of organization is considerable, 
and has been urged as an objection. In small cities it may 
be from $3,000 to $4,000, in large cities it has been from 
$5,000 to $15,000 in one year, while in smaller communities 
it may not reach more than a few hundred dollars. On the 
other hand the direct saving effected is enormous. In 
Buffalo, it is claimed that the saving was about $48,000. 
In Elberfield the tax upon each taxpayer fell from 4.45 
francs to 2 francs. In London in 1869 there were 138,536 
paupers, while in 1886 the number fell, largely, though not 
entirely, through the organization society, to 89,926. Illus- 
trations might be multiplied, but the best results cannot be 
tabulated. 

2. State Boards of Charities and Correction. — These 
boards, under various titles, exist in some states, and should 
be formed in all. They are of two types : those which 
have power of control over state institutions, and those 
which have only advisory powers. " The generally received 
opinion is that it is better, all things considered, that each 
institution should have its own trustees, entirely devoted to 
its interests, and that the central supervising board should 
possess as little executive authority or power as possible." 
(F. H. Wines). One of the most important features of the 
more recent English poor laws is the establishment of the 
Local Government Board, since 1834. (Fowled Poor Law, 
ch. v. N. C. C, 1879-80, p. 26, and each year after). In 



DEPENDENT CHILDREN. 69 

some respects this Board resembles our State Boards of 
Charities and Corrections. 

3. National Service in relation to pauperism must be 
confined to the collection and diffusion of exact informa- 
tion. The reports on Labor, Agriculture, Temperance, 
Family, Education, and the consular reports of foreign 
conditions, are very helpful in securing harmony and intel- 
ligence. The census reports are of highest value, but they 
come out slowly, and are soon antiquated for many pur- 
poses. Mr. McCulloch suggested (N. C. C, 1891), that the 
National Conference should cooperate with local authorities 
in keeping the census reports of the dependents and allied 
classes revised for each year. Where legislation is involved, 
this is of great importance. 

Out of a vast mass of material we may select a few writ- 
ings of interest. 

Loch, "Charity Organization." 

Gurteen, " Hand Book of Charity Organization." 

Mrs. J. S. Lowell, " Public Relief and Private Charity." 

Mrs. Field, "How to Help the Poor." N. C. C, since 1879. 

The Forum, December, 1892, articles by Professor Peabody and Mr. 

Riis on German and New York Charities. 
Tracts published by the Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston 

societies. 
Essays by Octavia Hill. "Hand Book for Friendly Visitors among 

the Poor," (Putnams). 



CHAPTER XV. 

CARE OF DEPENDENT CHILDREN. 

Children are, like old people, proper objects of charity, 
since they are helpless. This care is hopeful, since youth 



70 DEPENDENTS. 

is plastic. Yet there are grave dangers in the removal of 
children from the care of those who are responsible for 
their nurture. 

i. Foundlings. — The helplessness and misery of a 
deserted babe are conclusive arguments for pity. Found- 
ling asylums have been provided to prevent infanticide. 
During all ages of Christianity, the church has sought to 
remove the strongest motive to commit that crime which in 
savage and even civilized nations has been so general. And 
yet, with the most careful management, it has seemed doubtful 
whether harlotry and child-murder have not been increased 
by this very care. Where the terms of admission have been 
lax, it is certain that the evils have been aggravated. The 
conditions of its birth and early exposure render the found- 
ling's hold on life precarious. Institutions, if crowded, are 
deadly to deserted babes. In fact the loss of life is so 
great, that such institutions serve no end whatever. If the 
mother is not cared for with the infant, it dies, unless the 
offspring of shame is placed in a home. It is not possible 
to supply wet nurses for all foundlings. And while the 
mother is the natural protector, the misery and degradation 
of being linked to the visible sign of her sin, makes it often 
doubtful whether it is not better to separate them forever, 
and send the child where its origin will be hidden. Society 
must regard the influence of its treatment on the parents. 
If possible, both parents must be brought to assume the 
responsibility of the infant life. Many asylums refuse to 
encourage vice by receiving an unwedded mother with her 
second infant. To protect the morality of society it is 
imperative that deserted children, legitimate or illegitimate, 
should not be received secretly and without question. The 
laws punishing infanticide, though stern, are necessary and 



DEPENDENT CHILDREN. 7 I 

must be enforced. The legal provisions for enforcing par- 
ental responsibility must be carried out. 

Under the most careful system much injury is inevitable. 
-Foundling asylums may mitigate, but cannot cure the 
wrongs which spring from personal and social immoralities. 
Educational and preventive efforts are far more promising 
than palliative measures. After long trial, the London 
asylum (Foundling Hospital) was compelled to adopt these 
rules ; the child must be illegitimate, under twelve years of 
age, the mother not a pauper in the almshouse, her previous 
character must be good, the father not forthcoming. But 
what is to be done with the others who are not here classi- 
fied ? That is hard to say ! Society cannot undo a wrong 
once done. What is sown must be reaped. The inevitable 
consequence of misery must remain, despite all legal enact- 
ments and charitable anodynes, a permanent argument and 
plea against lawless self-indulgence. 

2. Children in the poor house. — In the earlier history of our 
country there was no other place for orphans, and the evils 
were not so glaring because child-life was valuable for its 
labor, and homes were ready. But as the population in- 
creased in numbers, and the poor decreased in quality, the 
evil of having young persons in the poor house was slowly 
seen to be monstrous. The character of the residents of 
these institutions is demoralizing, for they are so often 
indolent, coarse and immoral. The pauper record injures 
the prospects of the child. The authorities of the county 
asylum are not able, even if competent, to oversee 
apprenticed and adopted orphans during their minor- 
ity. And yet, as late as 1888, Mr. Randall said all but 
four of the states had some children in these miserable 
places. 



72 DEPENDENTS. 

3. Child Saving Institutions. — The next step generally 
taken, and that often by private enterprise, was to transfer 
dependent children to asylums and orphanages, (a) There 
are three types of these institutions. The congregate or 
"barrack" system has been most common. It is claimed for 
the large building that it is less costly to provide, especially 
in crowded cities, and that its government is more unified. 
It is believed that such large buildings are more liable to 
destructive fires and more exposed to disease, and that the 
crowding of many together is unnatural. For the congre- 
gate plan a substitute is offered in the "cottage system," in 
which only a moderate number are kept under one roof, in 
a way more nearly resembling family life. If the numbers 
are large, this method is inconvenient and costly. In the 
Coldwater, Michigan, School, both methods are combined ; 
a central building contains offices, school, shops, dining 
hall, residence of superintendent and assistants and all that 
is common. The sleeping and study rooms are in separate 
houses, which accommodate about fifty children with the 
house mother. The Rose Orphanage, at Terre Haute, Indi- 
ana, is an excellent example of this system. 

b) These institutions serve a necessary purpose. They 
are rescue stations for the perishing and abused waifs of 
misfortune and of criminal parentage. They are needed to 
train dependent and ill-bred children for decent homes. 
Many rescued children are physically and morally in need 
of quarantine until they are fit to offer to suitable families 
for adoption. And the period of detention should be long 
enough to accomplish the purpose. 

The usefulness of the best orphange is limited. Sick- 
ness and mortality result from crowding. Certain grave 
vices are often learned from vicious children. In the best 
institutions, if the person is retained too long he becomes 



DEPENDENT CHILDREN. 73 

accustomed to the forms and spirit of a rigid establishment, 
and so unfit for the personal responsibility of family life. 
The young require for their best development the care of 
foster-parents, if they have lost their own, and the most 
gentle of superintendents cannot father and mother too 
large a brood. Another grave consideration is the cost of 
keeping children in an asylum. Every institution by a law 
of its being is impelled to preserve its place and power. 
Officers have a natural pride in ruling over large numbers. 
Salaries are generally given according to the visible magni- 
tude of the work. It is easier to run in a groove than move 
out with energy to adjust the wards to new circumstances. 
Attachments spring up for the best children. Sometimes 
we must add the influence of a conscientious but injurious 
ecclesiasticism, which loses sight of the interest of the child 
and holds him in the asylum rather than let him go to a 
good home where a slightly different creed may be taught. 
If the institution is partly supported by city subsidies, these 
evils are increased. And thus it happens very often that 
such asylums are crowded at great cost of money to the 
patrons and of character to the child. 

c) Modes of support. Such institutions may be sup- 
ported by the state, by churches and other corporations, or 
by endowments. It is not wise to give public support to 
church charities. All such retreats should be under the 
care of the state, since it alone can protect the rights of the 
child and the interests of all. 

4. The Placing-out system. — The best place for a child 
is a good home. The placing-out system has been practiced 
for a long time. The Michigan method may be taken as 
an example of a highly developed form of state action. 
The law prohibits the authorities to send children to poor 



74 DEPENDENTS. 

houses. A general state public school is provided for a 
temporary home. When approved homes have been found 
the wards are sent to them. In each county a local agent 
is appointed to watch over the interests of these minors. 
A general agent travels over the state in the common interest 
of school and children. All these factors work efficiently 
and harmoniously together. In connection with many 
private asylums this system is carried out. But a general 
organization is needed to secure economy and thorough 
watchcare. Perhaps many orphanages might unite in 
employing agents to secure homes and guard the interests 
of children. With this provision private institutions seem 
desirable for superior classes of dependents, and for that var- 
iety and competition which are so necessary to prevent stag- 
nation and routine. The placing-out system has its perils. 
See Mr. L. P. Alden's "Shady -side of the Placing-out 
System." Premature release from the quarantine stage, 
hasty selection of unfit homes, neglect of oversight, inter- 
state migration of defective and criminal children are 
among the perils or abuses of this good method. In some 
communities it is found difficult to secure the adoption of 
all dependent children, and in such cases they are boarded 
at the expense of the state or corporation caring for them. 
Grave objections are urged against this plan, but it seems to 
have worked, on the whole, better than the strict asylum 
method. N. C. C. 1890, p. 194. 

Valuable discussion of the points raised in this chapter 
may be found in the N. C. C. 

"Kindergartens and Social Reforms," 1888, p. 247. 

"The Influence of Manual Training on Character, by F. Adler, 
1888, p. 272. 

N. C. C, 1 89 1, articles by Messrs. Finley, Folks, Dudley, Kellogg. 
The Michigan and Massachusetts plans for placing out, N. C. C. 
1888, and 1889. 



DEPENDENT CHILDREN. 75 

" The Care of Dependent Children," by Mrs. Lowell. 
" Children of the State," by Miss Florence D. Hill. 
E. C. Wines " Prisons and Child-saving Institutions." 
Lallemand, " Histoire des Enfants Abandonees et Delaisses." 

Maxims. — Dr. Wichern, of the Rauhe Haus, being asked 
by what means he was able to produce such wonderful 
changes in the conduct of children under his care, said : 
" By the Word of God and music." 

Dr. E. C. Wines : "The normal place of education for 
such children, is the fields in the country, entirely discon- 
nected from institutions for the treatment of pauperism and 
crime." 

The state is the guardian of rights. All children have 
rights to physical care and education. The primary duty 
lies with the parents. If it be possible to enforce this obli- 
gation, that should be done. Most of the evils of society 
arise from demoralized homes. The family is the unit of 
society. But if the family fail, through misfortune, vice or 
death, then a new home is necessary. As long as possible, 
the state should help hold up the family and cooperate 
with it. But when the family is recreant and abdicates its 
functions, the state must secure as nearly normal conditions 
as may be in its power. The asylum is only a temporary 
station on the way from the ruined home to the permanent 
home with foster parents. 

Seventeen Propositions on Child-Saving. — Presented by 
Hon. W. P. Letch worth to the Fifteenth National Conference 
of Charities and Correction during the debate on the Report 
of the Committee on the Care and Disposal of Dependent 
Children. 

First. There should be a proper classification primarily into the 
following divisions : (a) Children thrown upon the public for support by 



j6 DEPENDENTS. 

misfortune or poverty of parents. (6) Truants from school subject to 
the compulsory-education laws. (<:) Children homeless, or with bad 
associations who are in danger of falling, and who need home-like care 
and training, rather than reformatory treatment, (d) Incorrigibles, 
felons, those experienced in crime and the fallen needing reformation. 

Second. Provision should be made for girls, except the younger class, 
in institutions separate from boys. 

Third. The institution should be home-like in character, and its 
administration as nearly as possible that of family life. 

Fourth. Small institutions on the open or cottage plan should be 
provided for boys, upon farms in the country, where agriculture and 
gardening may be combined with a thorough indoor and common-school 
system. 

Fifth. The labor of children should, under no circumstances, be hired 
to contractors. 

Sixth. Government supervision should be exercised over all institu- 
tions for children, and frequent examinations made as to sanitary and 
other conditions, annual approval by the Government being requisite to 
the continuance of the work. 

Seventh. Power should be lodged in a central authority to transfer 
inmates from one institution to another, in order to perfect and maintain 
classifications ; also to remove juvenile offenders from institutions and 
place them in family care during good conduct ; also to remove from 
institutional care and to place permanently in homes all children suited 
to family life. 

Eighth. There should be provided a governmental agency to act in 
the interest of juvenile offenders when on trial. The agency should be 
vested with power, with the approval of the judge, to take the delinquent 
into custody under suspended sentence and place him on probation in a 
family. 

Ninth. Disinterested benevolence should control and direct work as 
far as practicable, the state or local government contributing, if need be, 
but not to an extent sufficient to meet the whole expense. 

Tenth. The cooperation of women of elevated character should be 
considered essential to the attainment of the highest success. 

Eleventh. Parents able to do so, should be made to contribute to the 
support of their children while under reformatory treatment. 

Twelfth. When debased parents have demonstrated their inability or 
unwillingness to support their children, and the latter in consequence 



DEPENDENT CHILDREN. j*] 

have become a charge upon the public, the interest of the child should 
be regarded as paramount, and the rights of the parents should cease, 
the state assuming control. 

Thirteenth, Children who in their home life had been environed by 
vicious associations and adverse influences, should on their release from 
institutional custody, be transplanted to new and, perhaps, distant homes 
with good surroundings. 

Fourteenth. A study of the child's character and a knowledge of its 
antecedents should be considered essential to successful work. 

Fifteenth. The delinquent child should be regarded as morally 
diseased, and a correct diagnosis of its moral condition should be made 
and carefully considered in applying remedies for the cure. This having 
been done, the strengthening of character by awakening hope, building 
up self-respect, and inculcating moral and religious principles will be 
more easily effected. 

Sixteenth. In the process of restoration, homes in good families 
should be made available to the utmost extent possible. 

Seventeenth. Technological training should be given in juvenUe 
reformatories where practicable. * 



1/ 



PART II.— DEFECTIVES. 



" Despair of humanity is distrust of God." — Goethe. 

" Let others admire witches and magicians as much as they will, who 
can by their art bring them their lost precious things and jewels : I 
honor and admire a good physician much more who can (as God's instru- 
ment) by the knowledge of nature, bring a man to his right wits again 
when he has lost them." — Casaubon ; quoted by Maudesley. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE INSANE. 

Defectives are, in a special sense, dependents, and 
require a separate treatment. We do not attempt in this 
study to instruct experts, but to arrange the judgments of 
experts for social uses. Mercier gives good reasons for 
diffusing information about the insane among the laity. 
It may tend to diminish the absurd and unreasoning horror 
with which insane people are regarded ; may prevent well- 
meaning persons from making idiots of themselves by talk- 
ing of insane persons in their presence ; may render the 
services of magistrates, lawyers and jurors in trials involv- 
ing the insane more valuable ; and may sometimes bring 
those liable to become insane under timely treatment. 
Where all institutions depend upon popular suffrage it is 
essential that the people be instructed. 

i. Definitions. — No satisfactory definition of insanity 
has been made, since the phases of disease are so com- 
plex and varied. Examples of attempts at definition may 

78 



THE INSANE. 79 

be given. "A disease of a person by which his power 
of self-determination is taken away." (Schiile). "A 
seriously impaired condition of the mental functions, invol- 
ving the intellect, emotions or will, or one or more of these 
faculties, exclusive of temporary states produced by or 
accompanying acute intoxications or acute febrile diseases. 
From the denotation of the word are also usually excluded 
mental defects resulting from arrested development and 
idiocy, and such conditions as simple trance, ecstasy, 
catalepsy and often senile dementia." 

2. Statistics of Insanity. — These are found in the 
United States census and in the reports of the boards 
of various states. (Chapter III.) Apparently the insane 
have increased more rapidly than the population in the 
United States. But statistics must be used with cau- 
tion, because more humane care and accurate methods 
may bring many to notice who before were not enu- 
merated, while the same humane care lengthens the 
average life of the insane, and so accumulates them in 
asylums. 

3. Causes of Insanity. — Much that was said about 
the causes of Dependency is applicable here, and need not 
be repeated. (Chapter VI.) There may be a hereditaiy 
predisposition to insanity, and this is aggravated by inter- 
marriage with persons with the same tendency. The 
physical environment may produce insanity by offering 
an insufficient supply of food, by indications of danger 
suddenly presented, by actual strokes upon the greater 
nerve - centers, by any cause which produces inflammation, 
as excessive heat, by poisons in air, water, food, and gen- 
erally by any external influence which seriously impairs 
the physical health. 



80 DEFECTIVES. 

As the immediate environment of the mind is the body, 
we may regard the brain as itself part of the environment, 
and " direct stress" as an immediate cause of insanity. 
Pressure, lesions, degeneration of tissue, inflammation are 
interior causes of mental alienation. Indirect stress 
includes the mental changes occurring at puberty and the 
menopause, abnormal activity of the reproductive func- 
tions, excesses, child-bearing, and fevers. External and 
internal conditions act together. The social circumstances 
are influential. All that affects the livelihood, as exhaust- 
ing employment, fluctuations in business, precariousness ; 
unfavorable conditions in the family, as quarrels, disgrace, 
fear, neglect, jealousy; disturbances in society, state and 
industry ; changes in the political world, as in the excitement, 
suspense and reactions of campaigns ; morbid excitement 
attending religious revivals ; are all conditions which 
increase the danger of insanity among those exposed to 
this danger. 

4. Forms of Insanity. — We must determine these in order 
to fix upon appropriate social treatment. But the subject 
is difficult and obscure, and demands the best expert talent. 
The kinds of mental disturbance shade off into each other, 
the same person manifests disease of the brain in different 
ways during the progress of the malady. Dr. W. A. Ham- 
mond uses Esquirol's classification in " Insanity in its 
Medico -legal Relations." 1) Melancholia. Perversion of 
the understanding in regard to one object or a limited 
number of objects, with the predominance of sadness or 
depression of mind. 2) Monomania. Perversion of 
understanding limited to a single object or small number 
of objects, with predominance of mental excitement. 3) 
Mania. Perversion embraces all kinds of objects, and is 



THE INSANE. 8 1 

accompanied with mental excitement. 4) Dementia. 
Incapacity for reasoning, from the fact that the organs of 
thought have lost their energy and the force necessary 
for performing their functions. 5) Imbecility or idiocy. 
The organs have never been sufficiently well conformed to 
permit those afflicted to reason correctly. 

See Krafft - Ebing's classification in Century Dictionary, 
and Schiile's in Ziemssen. An American committee of 
alienists proposed this classification: Mania, acute, re -cur- 
rent, chronic, puerperal ; Melancholia ; Primary Delusional 
Insanity ; Dementia, primary, secondary, senile, organic ; 
General Paralysis ; Epilepsy ; Toxic Insanity ; Congenital 
Mental Deficiency, idiocy, imbecility and cretinism. 

Some of the more important works on this subject are : 

Bucknill and Tuke, "Psychological Medicine." 

Blandford, "Insanity and Its Treatment." 

Maudslev, " The Pathology of the Mind." Journal of Medical 

Science. Works of Pinel and Esquirol, Krafft-Ebing, Schiile 

(in Ziemssen's Handbuch), Wharton and Stille, "Treatise of 

Medical Jurisprudence." 
E. C. Mann, "Manual of Psychological Medicine." 
W. P. Letchworth, " The Insane in Foreign Countries." 
Mercier, "Sanity and Insanity" (brief and popular). 
D. H. Tuke, " The Insane in the United States and Canada." 
Discussions in N. C. C. 
Ireland, "Idiocy and Imbecility." 
Paul Sollier, "The Idiot and the Imbecile." 
Classic English, loaded with learning and curious quotation, " The 

Anatomy of Melancholy," by Burton. 
Spitzka's "Manual of Insanity." 
Clouston, "Mental Diseases." 
Gower's, "Diseases of the Nervous System." 
Charcot, "Maladies du Systeme Nerveux." 
H. C. Burdett, "Hospitals and Asylums." 
Ray, "Medical Jurisprudence." 
Taylor's "Medical Jurisprudence." 



82 DEFECTIVES. 

5. Administration of Relief. — a) There are many tech- 
nical aspects of the subject not to be discussed here, such 
as medicinal and surgical treatment, and the symptoms of 
various forms of mental disease. All that general society 
can do is to set in motion political machinery for selecting 
and retaining the most competent alienists and nurses of 
aliens. A more definite judgment can be formed by the 
public on the forms of buildings required and the system 
of care which fixes these forms. One principle generally 
accepted is, that the buildings and grounds should be 
arranged to secure classification, room for varied interests 
and occupations, and air. The specialization of treatment 
has advanced very far in the century since criminals, debt- 
ors and madmen were promiscuously crowded into the 
same halls, and that without regard to sex or personal con- 
ditions. And this change could not be wrought without 
some growth of general intelligence on the subject. The 
expert alienists can achieve no great progress without popu- 
lar consent, and for this reason the learned must take the 
public into their confidence. 

b) For many years a controversy has been raging over 
the question whether the chronic pauper insane should be 
held in state asylums or in local county asylums. No one 
favors the commitment of acute' and probably curable cases 
to local care, but many think the dependent insane who 
are thought to be incurable can be more economically and 
even comfortably cared for in county asylums. The N. C. C. 
discussions often recur to this matter. The county plan is 
presented and favored by Mr. H. H. Giles, of Wisconsin, 
(N. C. C, 1891, p. 78). The essential features of the 
" Wisconsin plan" are: The chronic pauper insane, who 
are harmless, are kept in county institutions, and all acute 
cases remain in state hospitals. If a county has no asylum 



THE INSANE. 83 

it may board its patients in another county. Each asylum 
is under state supervision, so that the system is really not 
purely local. There is no resident physician. On behalf 
of this method it is claimed that it is more economical for 
the taxpayers ; that it is more humane, in that it permits 
many of the insane to reside nearer their friends, and 
secures more variety of occupation than can be had in the 
great state institutions. It is claimed there is less need of 
irksome restraint. It is universally agreed that county care 
without rigid state supervision is intolerable. The abuses 
of the helpless insane in county poor houses all over the 
country are flagrant, notorious and horrible. An example 
may be found in the Illinois Reports for 1890. The 
county jail and the county poor house are twin blots on 
our honor as a nation. 

In favor of exclusively state care of the insane, read the 
summary of argument by Mr. O. Craig (N. C. C, 1891, p. 
85). Mr. Craig declares that the medical supervision of 
state authorities is necessary ; that the more beautiful sur- 
roundings of state institutions are favorable to cure ; that 
the small county asylums cannot furnish facilities for classi- 
fication, and for changes according to the changes of 
patients ; that labor in state institutions is more apt to be 
for the benefit of the patient ; that the county asylum 
brings the stigma of pauperism on the indigent insane ; 
that adequate state supervision can be given to a few large 
institutions, but not to many scattered small ones ; that the 
state care is quite as economical as the county plan ; that 
the insane are, legally, wards of the state and not of the 
county. 

Mr. W. P. Letchworth, accepting county care in certain 
cases as a fact to be practically dealt with, lays down the 
conditions of proper treatment of chronic pauper insane : 



84 DEFECTIVES. 

"They should be placed under independent management, 
the members of which should be appointed by the courts 
for long terms, and should be unsalaried. These boards 
should be governed, as near as may be, by the same rules 
that govern boards of managers of state asylums. Accom- 
modation entirely separate from that for sane paupers 
should be provided on considerable tracts of good land, 
conveniently accessible by rail or water. The financial and 
other transactions should be kept separate from those 
relating to the relief of ordinary paupers. The standard 
of care should be such as to meet the approval of state 
authorities. " 

c) Private insane asylums are sometimes provided in 
order to secure the separation of insane friends of families 
able to support them without state aid. They can afford 
superior comforts and luxuries, and, in some cases, superior 
medical assistance and nursing. The competition of 
private with public institutions is wholesome, and variety of 
methods is a condition of progress. The scientific meth- 
ods of caring for the mentally unsound are the same for all 
institutions. There is, however, special need that private 
asylums should not pass from public inspection and con- 
trol. The danger of using the asylum for a private person 
is a real ganger, although it* has been sometimes grossly 
exaggerated. Honest and capable management will always 
welcome fair and careful investigation. 

d) The Colony plan of caring for the harmless insane. 
At Gheel, in Belgium, is a community whose principal 
business it is to keep insane persons as boarders. A cen- 
tral building for special cases and for administration pur- 
poses is the only plant provided by the state, and the cost 
of this was only $150,000. Set in contrast with this 
expensive structures like those of the United States, as the 



THE INSANE. 85 

Willard Asylum, which cost $1,600,000, the interest on 
which sum is a great addition to current expenses. This 
colony plan has all the advantages of centralized supervi- 
sion, classification and low cost, while the degree of freedom 
enjoyed is a marked feature. Of course, only a certain 
class of the insane can be treated in this way, but this class 
is large. (N. C. C, 1891, p. 173). Letchworth's " Insane 
in Foreign Countries. " 

The Scotch method of caring for harmless insane per- 
sons is to board them out among selected families. It has 
been tried in Massachusetts with encouraging success. 
(Mr. F. B. Sanborn, N. C. C, 1886, Letchworth, p. 352). 
Carefully selected demented persons may be better pro- 
vided for in private families without detriment to the com- 
munity and with comfort and content to themselves. 
Many are thus made self-supporting by their labor who 
would otherwise be a lifelong burden to the state. In 
Belgium, Scotland and Massachusetts it is not found diffi- 
cult to secure proper families for their care. 

6. The Popular View of Insanity is to be considered 
because it determines the treatment of these unfortunate 
persons when they are abroad, when they are before the law 
and in asylums. Experts can do little more than average 
intelligence or superstitions permit them to do. As words 
are fossilized history, they carry with them the philosophy 
of the past and sometimes influence thought. "Lunatic" 
reminds us of the days when the insane were supposed to 
be affected by the heavenly bodies. "Epileptic, " 
"possessed," "demonized," suggest the ancient explana- 
tion of insanity as the product of malign spiritual influ- 
ences. "Bedlam "was a corruption of "Bethlehem Hospi- 
tal," a monastic institution converted by Henry VIII into 



86 DEFECTIVES. 

an asylum or rather dungeon -house for furious lunatics. 
Shakespeare uses the term in application to " Bedlam beg- 
gars" who " sometimes with lunatic bans, sometimes with 
prayers, enforce their charity." Letchworth, Ch. I. 

D. R. Tuke, " History of the Insane in the British 
Isles." To such notions are due the horrible, illogi- 
cal and cruel treatment of the insane up to recent 
years. Consistency cannot be expected in superstition, 
and these wanderers have been sometimes the objects of 
religious awe, and often of fiendish cruelty. Even to this 
day we can with difficulty rid the popular mind of the 
thought that insanity is something more than the result of 
physical disorder. While this is not the place to discuss 
the interesting question of the relation of the Bible to 
insanity, it may be worth while to call attention to the fact 
that the Founder of Christianity never treated those called 
"possessed" with anything but kindness; he never 
upbraided nor tormented, but always healed them, treating 
them as he treated other sick folk. Many of his disciples 
have overlooked this fact. 

7. The Insane before the Law. — Mr. F. H. Wines has 
discussed this question with reference to our conditions in 
the International Record and in the Illinois reports, fifth 
to eleventh. Compare Letchworth, Wharton and Stille and 

E. C. Mann. 

We are able to indicate only a few points for study, a) 
How Mental unsoundness is detected. The main social 
principle here is that experts must be secured and trusted. 
In no situation is trained talent more essential. If the 
symptoms of threatening insanity were more generally 
taught many could be cured, and much suffering and injust- 
ice could be avoided. In a country where insanity is so 



THE INSANE. 87 

common it would seem wise to employ the University 
Extension methods on this subject, b) Mental unsound- 
ness affects civil rights. The general principle is that 
"contracts or wills of idiots or lunatics will not be enforced." 
" Fraud itself vitiates a contract, and in this the contracting 
party's intellect becomes an essential item for consideration. 
Acts and contracts of persons of weak understanding will 
be held void when such persons have been imposed upon 
by cunning or undue influence." Weakness of intellect 
from extreme old age works disability. But great caution 
is needed, for the object of law is to protect old age, not 
to render it more defenceless. The right to manage one's 
own estate comes under the same principles. The unsound 
in mind are the wards of the commonwealth, and their 
property is held in trust for them. 

d) Responsibility for crime. The deciding principle 
here is that " medical science is part of the common 
law of the land." Idiocy and imbecility may render 
a person incapable of distinguishing between right 
and wrong in the particular act. One may be suffering 
under a delusion as to circumstances which, if true, would 
relieve the act from responsibility. The act may be the 
natural consequence of the delusion. One may be under 
a morbid and uncontrollable impulse to commit the par- 
ticular act. The doctrine of homicidal mania is recognized 
by the courts. As to states of intoxication: " Insanity 
produced by delirum tremens affects responsibility in the 
same way as insanity produced by any other cause. Insan- 
ity immediately produced by intoxication does not destroy 
responsibility when the patient, when sane and responsible, 
voluntarily made himself intoxicated. While intoxication 
is, per se, no defense to the fact of guilt, yet when the 
question of intent or premeditation is concerned, it is 



88 DEFECTIVES. 

material for the purpose of determining the precise 
degree. " 

e) Admission to an asylum or hospital. It seems to be 
generally agreed that provisions should be made for volun- 
tary self -commitment by those who are aware of their need 
of treatment. N. C. C. 1891. In emergency cases, where 
the insane patient is liable to injure himself or others, the 
violently insane should be committed on the certificate of 
one reputable physician, pending judicial proceedings. 
They should not be detained in prisons or jails, but in 
special " receptacles" provided for this purpose. It is 
wrong to connect crime and insanity in the popular mind. 
Judicial commitments should be upon the findings of 
physicians. These physicians may be empowered to act 
directly or may be summoned by court or jury. In doubt- 
ful cases alienist experts should be consulted. This commit- 
ment should be final, so far as admission to the hospital is 
concerned, and not to be reviewed by the superintendent 
until he has had time to examine the case. (Dr. W. B. 
Fletcher). Patients are not to be taken to a hospital by 
deception. Women patients should be attended to the 
institution by women. The admission should be as free as 
possible from the appearance of criminal process, and as 
near as possible to the forms of admission to any hospital. 
(Wines). The examination should never be in open court, 
but the patient should be attended before the court by a 
few trusted friends, a physician and a legal adviser. Some 
of our laws on the subject bear the marks of obsolete views 
of the nature of insanity, as kindred to crime. 

/. The power to discharge is not properly vested in the 
superintendent, because in such a case the patients will 
regard him as their enemy when they are restrained. This 
power should be known to be vested in a state board of 



THE INSANE. 89 

lunacy, and should be exercised upon the certificate of two 
medical expert alienists who have examined the case. 
Probationary discharges are recommended in many cases 
that gradual trials of liberty may be made, g) The rights 
of the insane, as to person and property and means of hap- 
piness, are not to be unreasonably limited. Letters to the 
state authorities should be forwarded unopened, but those 
addressed to private persons should come under the eye of 
the officers of the institution. They are often unfit to go 
further, h) Post-mortem examinations should always be 
made, with the consent of the relatives, in the interest of 
justice and of science. 

On the methods of commitment to asylums in the 
United States see N. C. C. 1892, papers by Drs. S. Smith 
and R. Dewey. 

8. The Criminal Insane, (a) Characteristics. Persons 
of this class have violated the laws which protect persons, 
property, and peace, but they are pronounced irresponsi- 
ble. Many of these were originally " imbeciles." Others 
have become insane, with dangerous tendencies. (b) 
Treatment. These patients should not be admitted to the 
ordinary hospitals for the insane. Insanity is a misfortune, 
and it is wrong and cruel to wound the feelings of the 
patients and their friends by compelling them to live in an 
institution with persons who have been marked as murder- 
ers. "A charitable institution is not equipped either in its 
construction or its administration, to take care of danger- 
ous criminals. The ordinary reputable insane and their 
friends object to the enforced contact with such associates. 
The ' insanity dodge' is constantly practiced by convicts in 
the prison and by criminals on trial, as a means of escape 
from the consequences of their crimes, and many do so 



90 DEFECTIVES. 

escape. The presence of these criminals is dangerous and 
demoralizing in the hospitals, and their frequent escapes 
result in serious injury to the community. " (Dr. Dewey 
Rep. Kankakee Hospital, 1890). 

"The danger of relapse after a cure is very great, and a 
shrewd lunatic may very readily deceive those about him 
into the belief that he is cured, when, in fact, he is only 
planning his escape from durance." " There ought to be 
penitentiary asylums, in which insane criminals should be 
placed, and in which they may be under scientific treat- 
ment." Dr. W. A. Hammond, "Insanity and its Relations 
to Crime. " Whether we regard retribution, prevention, 
example, or reform, the insane criminals are to be isolated 
from other persons of diseased nervous systems. In the 
later chapters on Imbeciles and Criminals we shall see that 
we touch here the border - land between insanity and crime, 
and the resemblances may modify essentially the social and 
legal treatment of some criminals. 

9. The Insane Drunkard. Many inebriates live on the 
borderland between insanity and crime, and manifest the 
morbid traits of both conditions. The present general 
policy is to let them alone, or to fine them and imprison 
them for a short term. This policy is an utter failure in 
every respect. It does not reform nor cure the inebriate ; it 
does not protect his family and society ; and it does not 
prevent the propagation of an enfeebled and vicious stock. 
Confirmed inebriates should not be placed in insane 
asylums, because these institutions are not adapted to 
repress, confine and correct them. They should not be 
imprisoned for short terms, because this does not affect 
hardened offenders, and it breaks the spirit of curable 
inebriates. 



THE INSANE. gi 

They cannot be successfully treated in voluntary private 
inebriate asylums, because as soon as they are sobered up 
they desire to leave before the treatment can afford a per- 
manent cure. (The new methods of the various " gold 
cures " are left out of account because they are, to the 
writer, a mystery, and materials for a judgment are not to 
be obtained). 

Confirmed inebriates should be confined, on the basis 
of an inquest similar to that appropriate for the insane, 
in special state institutions, and for terms of at least two or 
three years. In these institutions they should be obliged 
to work for the benefit of themselves, their families and of 
society. Such powers of detention ought never to be con- 
ferred by the state on any private or church institution. 
The working of the Massachusetts asylum will be watched 
with eager interest. (Boston Association Charities Report, 
1892, p. 29.) Dr. J. C. Bucknill ("Habitual Drunkenness") 
would treat the confirmed inebriate as a criminal. Since 
drunkards usually violate the criminal code they should be 
apprehended and subjected to cumulative sentences until 
they win their right to freedom by reform, or manifest their 
incorrigibility and become permanent residents of penal 
institutions. On the " Keeley Cure in relation to Insanity 
and Drunkenness," see paper by Dr. R. Dewey, N. C. C. 
1892. 



92 DEFECTIVES 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE FEEBLE MINDED. 

" Gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost." We 
have come to the lowest stratum of human life. Yet our 
hearts respond to the noble words of Dr. G. H. Knight : 
" Inside these walls we have no imbeciles, no idiots, no fools. 
They are always in our thoughts and speech, in every con- 
dition and age, simply ' the children'; and the best we 
have and can do is none too good for them." 

i. Statistics. Dr. A. G. Warner estimates that there 
are about 30,000 of this class in the United States, of whom 
5000 are in special institutions. " About one-fifth come 
from the well-to-do classes ; about one-fifth from the pauper 
classes; and the remainder from the laboring classes." Dr. 
C. T. Wilbur, on the basis of Michigan facts, thinks they 
are as numerous as the insane, and that there are 90,000 in 
the United States. Dr. W. B. Fish thinks there are over 
38,000 " custodial cases of idiocy." Rev. O. McCulloch 
estimated 77,000. Rev. F. H. Wines expresses the belief 
that the feeble minded equal the insane in numbers. We 
must wait for the census returns. (N. C. C. 1890 and 
1 89 1.) It is difficult to get accurate reports, because 
parents hide the facts through shame and affection, and 
because in the popular intelligence insanity and idiocy 
are not distinguished. 

2. Characteristics. — The feeble - minded should be distin- 
guished from the insane. " Insanity is a derangement of 



THE FEEBLE MINDED. 93 

the mind from a diseased condition of the brain. Idiocy 
is an arrested development of mind. An idiot may also be 
insane, as an acute or chronic disease of the brain may affect 
the mind, but, ordinarily, idiocy is an undeveloped con- 
dition of the mind, due to the want of normal development 
of the brain." Dementia is a condition resembling idiocy, 
and is caused by brain disease or by senile weakness. The 
peculiarities of the feeble - minded are shown in the degree 
of the power of attention, and in the character of the im- 
pulses to action. 

Paul Sollier makes a sharp distinction between two 
classes of the feeble-minded, idiots and imbeciles. "The 
idiot is a being incapable of acting and thinking, an im- 
perfectly developed individual. The imbecile is an abnor- 
mal, irregularly developed individual, who possesses the 
faculties of thinking and acting ; but these are necessarily 
abnormal like the brain which produces them. The idiot 
can continuously show a good disposition ; the imbecile is 
an egotist, often malicious, even toward those who mean 
well to him. With the idiot one accomplishes most with 
mildness ; with the imbecile most by fear. The idiot is 
bashful, the imbecile usurping ; the former industrious, the 
latter obstinately indolent ; the one is kind, the other ugly. 
With the idiot the judgment is weak : with the imbecile, 
false ; with the former will is weak, with the latter unre- 
liable. The idiot is scarcely influenced by suggestion ; the 
imbecile is affected by it." There are many exceptions, and 
all lines are crossed in nature. Speaking broadly the idiot 
is extra -social, the imbecile is anti- social. It is interesting 
and instructive to compare Sollier's studies of the imbecile 
with Lombroso's famous analyses of the "criminal born." 

Dr. I. N. Kerlin (N. C. C. 1890, p 244) gives a descrip- 
tion of the "moral imbecile" drawn from American clin- 



94 DEFECTIVES. 

ical experience : " Derangement of the moral perceptions 
or emotional nature rather than in the intellectual life, 
which not infrequently is precocious. Unaccountable and 
unreasonable frenzies, long periods of sulks, and comfort 
in sulking ; motiveless and persistent lying ; thieving, gen- 
erally without acquisitiveness ; a blind and headlong im- 
pulse toward arson; delight in cruelty, first toward 
domestic pets, and later toward helpless or young com- 
panions ; self-inflicted violence, even to pain and the 
drawing of blood ; occasionally, delight in the sight of 
blood ; habitual wilfulness and defiance, even in the face 
of certain punishment ; a singular tolerance to surgical 
pain, and hebetude or insensibility under disciplinary 
inflictions." Dr. J. D. Scouller (N. C. C. 1884) gives a sim- 
ilar description of a certain class of boys sent to the reform 
school. 

The causes of idiocy and imbecility are various and 
complex. The parents are not always depraved or dis- 
eased. Epilepsy, insanity, inebriety and sexual excesses 
and disorders in parents are congenital causes. Some 
great shock to the mother during pregnancy may result in 
arrested or perverted development of the child. Post- 
natal causes are fevers, meningitis, frights, shocks, changes 
at puberty, and precocious development. 

3. Classification. — For social treatment idiots and im- 
beciles come into one class, although they are of all grades 
of weakness and derangement. For certain practical ends 
many epileptics may be treated with imbeciles, and many 
demented cases with profound idiots. 

In this matter, as elsewhere, we see the truth that soci- 
ology must base its descriptions of classes, its estimates of 
social factors, its prediction of results, and its recommenda- 



THE FEEBLE - MINDED. 95 

tions to legislators upon biology and psychology, normal 
and pathological (cf. De Greef, Les Lois Sociologiques). 

4. The Method of Care.— N. C. C. 1888 (Dr. Kerlin, 
quoted N. C. C, 1891 p. 104, by Dr. Fish): " American 
institutions for the feeble-minded having already been in 
existence thirty years, it may be asserted that the experi- 
mental period has passed, and that when states shall pro- 
ceed to legislate for their defectives, it will be done on 
a permanent basis. 

The grades of specific idiocy and imbecility presuppose 
a wide classification, and at the commencement this should 
be planned for somewhat as follows : 

First, central buildings for the school and industrial 
departments. Near at hand should be located the shops. 

Second, separate buildings for the care of cases of 
paralysis and profound idiocy, with such special arrange- 
ment of dormitory and day rooms as the infirm character 
of the inmates may require. 

Third, other remote buildings for the custodial and 
epileptic department, with accessories for both care and 
training. 

Fourth, provision should continually be made for coloniz- 
ing lads as they grow into manhood in properly arranged 
houses as farmers, gardeners, dairy help, etc." 

Special state institutions for the feeble-minded should 
be provided for the sake of those unfortunate persons 
themselves. In such institutions, apart from the competi- 
tions of society with which they are incompetent to cope, 
they can live a comparatively happy life. Many of them feel 
keenly the open or covert criticism of their ways, and they 
do not suffer from the contrast in the society of their 
equals. The families to which they belong are entitled to 



96 DEFECTIVES. 

be protected from the damage and danger to which they 
are exposed from this source. As taxpayers, all families 
have the right to the use of such schools for their children, 
since the public schools are not available. The waste of 
time and productive energy can be greatly reduced by the 
sequestration of the feeble - minded. Family life is demor- 
alized and crippled by the presence of one of this class. 
Society must protect itself in this way. "Margaret the 
mother of criminals, " whose progeny cost the state of New 
York at least $ 1,2 50,000, was a feeble-minded person. 
It is intolerable to permit such creatures to become parents, 
and so multiply and perpetuate pauperism, idiocy and 
crime. 

5. Results. — " Of the feeble-minded who are received 
and trained in institutions ten to twenty per cent are so 
improved as to be able to enter life as bread-winners; 
from thirty to forty per cent are returned to their families 
so improved as to be self -helpful, or at least much less 
burdensome to their people ; and further, and of greater 
importance, one -half the whole number will need custodial 
care so long as they live." (N. C. C. 1888). 

But this view needs the larger outlook suggested by 
Rev. F. H. Wines : " I think we are apt to be too much 
discouraged in all charitable work in consequence of our 
not seeing immediate results. There is a close connection 
between charitable work of every sort and the belief in the 
immortality of the soul. . . . How do you know what may 
be the ultimate result, in a future state, of efforts made in 
the present life ? How can you estimate the value of an 
effort to illumine the darkened mind of an idiot? Noth- 
ing is ever lost in the way of benevolent endeavor ; it always 
tells somewhere." 



EPILEPTICS, DEMENTS AND PARALYTICS. 97 

Special works on the feeble-minded: 

Schiile in Ziemmsen. 

Ireland on "Idiocy." 

Paul Sollier, "The Idiot and the Imbecile." 

S. G. Howe, "Causes and Prevention of Idiocy." 

Papers in N. N. C, 1892, and earlier. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

EPILEPTICS, DEMENTS AND PARALYTICS. 

Here we bring together three general classes of patients 
who require, in some respects, similar social treatment. 
Looking at the extreme forms of chronic cases, we may 
regard them all as helpless and unfit to remain in the 
family and other normal social conditions. Imbeciles are, 
in some points, akin to epileptics. But imbecility is more 
distinctly congenital and due to perverted development 
without disease. Epilepsy usually appears later, as at 
puberty, is the result of a diseased brain, and moves for- 
ward toward dementia. In egoistic impulses they are 
much alike, the embecile all the time, the epileptic 
periodically. 

1. Epileptics. — While "some of the most distinguished 
men, from Julius Caesar down, have been epileptics" (Dr. 
Walker), the epileptic is often an object of dread. Schiile 
says of him, " Egoism in developed cases is very marked. 
The epileptic lives for himself and loses the feeling for 
other men. Nothing can disturb the pedantic regulation 
of his needs. In the slightest opposition or restriction, he 
at once sees an enemy's hindrance, which he seeks with- 
out scruple to put out of the way. What others wish is 



98 DEFECTIVES. 

indifferent to him, so far as it does not touch his wishes. 
Epilepsy takes many forms; it may show itself from early 
childhood in convulsions; or in imbecility with epileptic 
tendency; or the early life may be quite sound, and epilepsy 
appear in youth with convulsions. It tends to terminate in 
dementia." 

Dr. R. Gundry (N. C. C. 1890, p. 263): "They (epilep- 
tics) are a disturbing element in every asylum. However 
mild their forms of insanity generally, however amiable 
their character, they are liable to explosive paroxysms of 
fury; and their attacks are shocking to witness. It can be 
no question that their frequent fits exercise a very unfavor- 
able influence upon other patients of an impressionable 
nature. For this reason, doubtless, many who should be 
under hospital care are refused admittance, and drift into 
various nooks and corners. Many find their way to the 
poor houses. Among these men are sometimes found 
excellent, reliable workers during the intervals, long or 
short, between their paroxysms. 

Treatment. — Dr. Gundry advises a separate department 
of the Insane Hospital for epileptics. Others consider it 
wiser to have a special institution for them, or a farm 
colony, where they may labor in lucid intervals. Others 
favor placing them near the feeble minded and demented, 
to give their strength in providing for the more helpless 
charges. The medicinal and surgical treatment and nurs- 
ing belong to the healing art. There are few institutions 
for these unfortunate persons in this country. 

It is estimated that there are 100,000 epileptics in the 
United States. Dr. John Norris says that a cure is effected, 
under hospital methods, in 6% per cent, of cases, and 
improvement is nearly all. It is economy to care for them 
in institutions. 



BLIND AND DEAF MUTES. 99 

2. Dements. — Many incurable patients of various kinds 
of insanity pass into this state. We have already spoken of 
their proper custody and care under the head of state and 
county care of the chronic insane. 

3. Helpless paralytics are frequently reduced to the condi- 
tion of infants or of the feeble-minded, and need similar 
care. Except under the most vigorous state inspection and 
control it is inhuman to trust these to county care. For 
those whose wealth is sufficient, it is not difficult to furnish 
nursing and retired rooms; but for the great majority of 
people the public care is the only adequate and humane 
provision. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE BLIND AND THE DEAF MUTES. 

Persons of both these classes should be regarded as 
entitled to education at the expense of the state as much as 
other persons, and on the same grounds. The institutions 
which the state provides for them are not hospitals, asylums 
nor reformatories, but simply schools. These infirmities 
make it necessary to provide schools of forms distinct 
from other public schools. The pupils are not special 
objects of charity, unless provision for their board 
and clothing, in addition to education, may be so con- 
sidered. It is on this social doctrine that such institutions 
rest ; they are provided to fit special classes for their place 
and duty as citizens. 

According to the census of 1880 there were of the 
blind in the United States 954 males and 1,112 females 

LaFCL 



100 DEFECTIVES. 

in 1,000,000 of population, not far from the European 
average. 

It seems undesirable to hold the blind apart from 
society and treat them as a dependent class. Their defect 
is not analogous to that of the insane and helpless. They 
can be taught many of the arts of life, and can learn to 
support themselves. As many of them are friendless and 
exposed to peculiar trials, it is desirable to have some volun- 
tary organization to study and guard their interests, to pro- 
tect them from designing and unscrupulous persons, to 
secure them employment, and to advance their means of 
industrial and social progress. But they should not have 
permanent provision for support in adult life at public 
expense, nor in any other way be treated as paupers, so as 
to break down their self-respect and destroy their character 
and happiness. 

N. C. C. 1888, p. 1 13 ; 1886, p. 233. 

It is a grave question whether by frequent intermarriages 
of the blind the infirmity tends to become permanent in 
certain families. 

The same principles apply to the deaf mutes. The state 
provides schools for them as for other members of the com- 
monwealth. The aim of these schools is to teach them 
sign language, finger speech, writing, oral speech, and use- 
ful arts, so that they may not be kept out of social life, or 
may enter it on something like equal terms. The progress 
of educational methods for deaf mutes is a marvel of sci- 
ence and humanity, and the pedagogical results have 
enriched all school systems. 

It is declared that in these institutions, as in so many 
other places, one serious impediment is " politics. " Appoint- 
ments which should be made on grounds of science and 
fitness are forced on grounds of political service. "The 



BLIND AND DEAF MUTES. 101 

people have not established these institutions, and do not 
now support them at heavy cost, with a view to providing 
temporary homes for intriguing or starving partisans. The 
people do not build them to be converted into party ambu- 
lances." 

It is at such points we discover the grand law of social 
science that society is an organism, a "body" whose organs 
are reciprocally related as means and ends. When one 
member suffers, all suffer with it. 



PART III.— CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL 
TREATMENT 



" Ah, little think the gay, .... 
Whom pleasure, power and affluence surround, 
How many pine in want, and dungeon-glooms ; 
Shut from the common air." — Thomson. 

"Parum Est 
Coercere Improbos 

Poena, 
Nisi Probos Efficias 
Disciplina." 
Quoted by John Howard, in "The State of the Prisons," 1784, 
from the Reformatory of St. Michael at Rome. 

Social Interest in Criminals. — In every large city there exist 
throngs of true barbarians — nay, savages. . . . They make the great 
bulk of the pauper, beggar and criminal classes of every country. The 
total cost of supporting, punishing and guarding against them consti- 
tutes half the charge of all legitimate government. 

Every assault of savagery upon so complicated and extensive organi- 
zation costs society an immense sacrifice. 

There is even a worse consequence. So long as society has this bur- 
den on its shoulders, it cannot progress in refinement. It must cling to 
a large part of its old crudeness, as a protection against its unassimilated 
membership. It must be perpetually hampered by a heavy coat of mail 
in consequence of the perpetual dangers that beset it." — Ward, Dyna- 
mic Sociology, Vol. II, p. 594. 

" Next to the free goodness and mercy of the Author of my being, 
temperance and cleanliness are my preservation. Trusting in Divine 
Providence, and believing myself in the way of duty, I visit the most 
noxious cells, and while thus employed, ' I fear no evil.' I never enter 

102 



CLASSIFICATION. I O3 

an hospital or prison before breakfast, and in an offensive room I seldom 
draw my breath deeply." — (John Howard.) 

" Our literature abounds in studies of social topics which are of little 
use, even when they are not positively misleading, because they do not 
approach their subjects from the sociological point of view. And it is out 
of the second and third rate followers of this class of writers that we are 
getting a deal of social quackery and cranks. A lot of social material 
and information is a poor substitute for sociological training." 

Samuel W. Dyke. 



CHAPTER XX. 



CLASSIFICATION. 



Morality and Law. — The classification of law-breakers 
depends on the moral distinctions and legal regulations 
made by a given society. " The criminal law is that part of the 
law which relates to the definition and punishment of acts 
and omissions which are punished as being (1) attacks upon 
the public order, internal or external ; or (2) abuses or 
obstructions of the public authority; or (3) acts injurious to 
the public in general ; or (4) attacks upon the persons of 
individuals, or upon rights annexed to their persons ; or (5) 
attacks upon the property of individuals or rights connected 
with, and similar to, rights of property." 

J. F. Stephen. History of the Criminal Law in England, ch. I. Cf. 
Pike, History of Crime, vol. 2, p. 489. 

Morality and law do not cover precisely the same field, 
though they ought to support each other, and usually do so. 
The law is the definite expression of the moral judgment 
and of the collective will of society in respect to acts or 
omissions regarded as injurious. It follows that society 
will treat as anti- social all those who are better or worse 



104 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

than the average, and this in varying degrees as the eccen- 
tric person makes society more or less uncomfortable. As 
society develops altruism it will not merely react against 
its unsocial members, but will see in them moral and spir- 
itual possibilities which demand education. In primitive 
society little is thought of except revenge and protection. 
But even in the most humane stages of civilization the ele- 
ment of " resentment" will continue. 

Morals cover the region, not only of actions, but also 
of thoughts, feelings and motives. Religion takes account 
of immoral acts and inward states, and calls them " sins." 
Law is limited to " definite overt acts or omissions capable 
of being distinctly proved. The sentence of the law is to 
the moral sentiment of the public in relation to the offence 
what a seal is to hot wax. It converts into a permanent 
final judgment what might otherwise be a transient senti- 
ment. This close alliance between criminal law and moral 
sentiment is in all ways healthy and advantageous to the 
community. I think it highly desirable that criminals 
should be hated, that the punishments inflicted upon them 
should be so contrived as to give expression to that hatred, 
and to justify it so far as the public provision of means for 
expressing and gratifying a healthy natural sentiment can 
justify and encourage it." (Stephen). Compare the dis- 
cussion of " Resentment " by Bishop Butler, in his " Ser- 
mons." Cf. Pike, His. of Crime, Vol. 2, Ch. xxii. 

On the basis of these definitions of crime we may form 
our classification. 

1. The Political Criminal. — In personal character the 
individuals of this class differ from " criminals " of 
the habitual and instinctive type, but in the fact of 
antagonism to law and public sentiment they are found 



CLASSIFICATION. IO5 

together. In savage society innovators of all kinds are 
promptly suppressed. When priests and chiefs become 
invested with governmental and divine honors, the whole 
force of the tribe is directed to the destruction of heretics. 
As state and church are not differentiated in early societies 
an offence against religious codes becomes an attack upon 
the state, — a crime. Dissent is treason. This union of 
church and state continues still in most countries of the 
world, even in Christendom. 

It was under the Mosiac code, though wrongly inter- 
preted and applied, that Jesus met his death as a " crimi- 
nal." It was under the law of his country that Socrates 
was compelled to drink the deadly hemlock. When Roman 
emperors were deified by law Jews and Christians were 
capitally punished as " atheists " for refusing to pay divine 
honors to the head of the state. The history of European 
countries in our own time could show abundant examples 
of the infliction of degrading penalties on multitudes of 
the most conscientious and peaceable citizens. The history 
of America before the constitution would reveal similar 
examples of persecution according to law. 

Stephen, History of Crim. Law, ch. xxv. 
Bancroft, History of the United States. 

When a reformer attacks anti-social laws and customs, 
especially in a backward community, he must expect to be 
treated as a criminal ; and it is only in the light of subse- 
quent events and discussions that we can even understand 
a case like that of John Brown the anti-slavery agitator. 
During the period of ferment about 1848, many of the best 
spirits of Germany were practically exiled for their political 
opinions. 

It must, however, be noted that many who sincerely 
believe they are serving a humane cause are so anti-social in 



106 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

speech and action as to endanger all the products of past 
progress. The moral sentiments of the country generally 
supported the judicial findings against the anarchists of 
Chicago. So far as society is wrong in its sentiments and 
laws the only remedy is advance in culture of all kinds. 

2. Criminals by Passion. — Men sometimes break the law 
under stress of sudden temptation, and the act is excep- 
tional in their conduct. The motive may be one worthy 
of all honor, as where a man smites one who insults his 
wife or daughter. His usual instincts and habits are in 
harmony with public order. But society cannot permit 
even such a citizen to revert to the savage method of resent- 
ing insults and protecting rights. The duel, lynch-law 
and street brawls are " survivals " of primeval culture, or 
are examples of " arrested development " of moral culture. 
The duel has become a crime since about 1848, through a 
previous change in public sentiment crystallized into a 
statute in consequence of a tragedy. 

3. The Occasional Criminal is a person of feeble will 
and moral fibre. If he is not tempted sorely, and if out- 
ward circumstances are favorable he may pass through life 
with a clean record. But if he- is surrounded bv evil com- 
panions, is not trained to regular habits of productive 
industry, and has no help from refining spiritual influences 
he may become a thief, a forger, a burglar or embezzler, 
according to his ability and his opportunity. 

4. The Habitual Criminal has linked lawless acts into a 
chain of habit. The occasional criminal under favoring 
circumstances becomes a habitual criminal. The develop- 
ment may be slow or rapid, but when the vicious acts have 



CLASSIFICATION. I OJ 

been often repeated and with impunity, the slavery is dif- 
ficult to break. 

5. The Professional Criminal is one who lives by lawless 
acts. He is a human parasite. There are many crime 
trades, and in each trade there are apprentices, journeymen 
and capitalists, as in legitimate and productive industries. 
Many of these are described in Byrnes' " Professional Crimi- 
nals of America," and their photographs are given. The 
" Rogues' Gallery" in city police offices will furnish abund- 
ant illustrations, and the officers can relate many biogra- 
phies. 

It is interesting to note that there are social ranks and 
castes among professional criminals. Your absconding 
bank cashier will not associate in Montreal with common 
porch thieves. Bank burglars have no dealings with pick- 
pockets. Gamblers travel along the great rivers and rail- 
roads with a distinct air of aristocracy, and not rarely 
advertise themselves as philanthropists. 

" Professional criminals maybe classed as exceptional 
incorrigibles, for the number of professional criminals in 
American prisons is not so great as is usually supposed. 
Probably not more than ten per cent, of state prisoners in 
New York can be of this class. Professional criminals 
develop out of all the other classes of criminals." Z. R. 
Brock way. 

6. The Instinctive Criminal. — It is of this class that the 
" criminal anthropologists " more specially write. Lombroso 
calls them the "criminal born," which term assumes that 
the decisive conditions of the lawless career are congenital. 
The word " instinctive" is to be preferred because it 
includes not only hereditary but also all social and per- 



108 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

sonal causes. Our description of " Imbeciles " and the 
"Moral, Insane" (in Part II), has already brought out one 
phase of this subject. It is not difficult to assign many 
law-breakers to this class. The causes may be ante-natal 
or post-natal ; it is the resulting condition which here con- 
cerns us. The ordinary legal view may be expressed in 
these sentences from Stephen : " Our leading principle is 
. . . . . that judges when directing juries have to do exclu- 
sively with this question, — Is this person responsible, in the 
sense of being liable, by the law of England as it is, to be 

punished for the act which he has done If it is 

true, as I think it is, that the law of England on this sub- 
ject is unsufficiently expressed, it is no less true that medi- 
cal knowledge relating to insanity is fragmentary, not well 
arranged, and, to say the very least, quite as incomplete as 

the law No act is a crime if the person who does 

it is, at the time where it is done, prevented either by defec- 
tive mental power or by disease affecting his mind (a) 
from knowing the nature and quality of his act, or (b) from 
knowing the act is wrong, or (c) from controlling his own 
conduct, unless the absence of the power of control has 

been produced by his own default But an act 

may be a crime (although the mind of the person who does 
it is affected by disease) if the disease does not in fact pro- 
duce upon his mind one or other of the effects above men- 
tioned in reference to that act." And against the tendency 
in some quarters to shield law-breakers from punishment 
on the ground of a vicious nature : " My own experience 
certainly is, that people who commit great crimes are 
usually abominably wicked, and particularly murderers. I 

have the very worst opinion of them If I had not 

had that experience, I should not have imagined that a 
crime, which may be the result of a transient outbreak of 



CLASSIFICATION. 1 09 

passion indicated such abominable heartless ferocity, and 
such depths of falsehood as are, in my experience, usually 
found in them. This peculiarity appears to me to be a 
reason not for sparing them, but for putting them to death. 
. ... If the morally insane man is as able to abstain from 
crime as a sane bad man, and has the same reason — namely, 
fear of punishment — for abstaining from crime, why should 
not he be punished if he gives way to temptation?" We 
shall see how far this view agrees with that of the " anthropo- 
logists." Stephen is at least free from the "theological" 
prejudice. In the later chapters we shall indicate the marks 
of the Instinctive Criminal, physical and psychical. 

Mr. Dugdale, " The Jukes," pp. 1 10-1 11, makes a minute 
classification of criminals who had come under his observa- 
tion. 

Typical classes of Criminals. — "The large proportion of 
habitual criminals raises the question : How shall their 
number be decreased? This requires the citing of typical 
cases which suggest reflections on the manner in which the 
law and the prison now deal with them. (1) Of those who 
are essentially not criminal, who are of sound mind and 
body, honest and industrious, and of good stock, there are, 
among state prison convicts, from one to two per cent. They 
are usually committed for crimes against the person, and 
belong to that class of men who are benefited by imprison- 
ment, if the term of sentence is not too long. What they 
need is protection from the after recognition of habitual 
criminals, from contamination by loss of self-respect, and 
opportunity for mental culture. (2) First offenders who 
fall because they are vain, self-indulgent, and in the toils of 
lewd women. They abuse trusts by embezzlement, and 
represent a class who are quite too numerous in our midst. 



110 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

When detected they often escape prosecution altogether for 
the sake of their parents, and because they are personally 
liked. The type is that of a descending family, in which 
the misuse of good faculties and the abuse of opportunities 
conspire to lead astray, but the good teachings of youth and 
the dear associations of home make reformation easy. (3) 
First offenders who have been led off into crime by bad 
associates. They are children of honest parents who, from 
indulgence or want of capacity, have not brought them up 
judiciously. In the foregoing we have what may be called 
types of sporadic crime, in which the primary element of 
disorder is only a movement of momentary passion kindled 
partly by feelings of self-respect, or educational neglect, 
uncomplicated by insane or criminal hereditary tendencies, 
and in which the criminal habit has not become fixed. (4) 
Convicts of low vitality, born of pauper parents, who have 
left them orphans in childhood so that they have drifted 
into habitual crime. (5) Illegitimate children born of 
intemperate, vicious and criminal parents, who have trained 
them to crime. These types have, in addition to parental 
neglect, a hereditary tendency to crime, pauperism or pre- 
mature death. Many are, however, reformable, and, if such 
treatment is to be applied, the prerequisite is a knowledge 
of the ancestral defects, because the heredity is the main 
factor in their lives. (6) Contrivers of crime who look upon 
crime as a legitimate business, who " don't do no light 
things," but " go in for big money," and are irreclaimable. 
(7) Active executors of crime, who have passed their thirty- 
fifth year and are casting about to abandon the field 
as executors of crime, to enter that of crime capitalists. (8) 
Panderers to the vices of criminals, themselves the active 
abettors in facilitating crime. In this series, whatever may 
have been the road which each has traveled, whether fore- 



CRIME CAUSES. I I I 

cast by hereditary transmission or induced by miseducated 
childhood, these men, past reform, dangerous and desper- 
ate, are of service to the state only as examples of the 
austerity of her justice. (9) Men who have acquired epi- 
lepsy or insanity, and whose crimes are, probably, the 
results of perverted minds. (10) Unfortunates who have 
inherited nervous and brain diseases which destroy the 
moral sense. (11) Persons who have forms of nervous 
disease which destroy the will power over the voluntary 
motions, and do acts of impulse which result in murders, 
attempts to kill and rape." 



CHAPTER XXI 

CRIME CAUSES. 



In Part I. the causes of pauperism and of organic defect 
have been indicated. Those same forces tend to produce 
criminals, whether they be from inheritance, environment 
or personal conduct. Setting aside extreme forms of 
imbecility and moral insanity, we discover in ordinary crim- 
inals the same elemental forces which move ordinary per- 
sons. There is nothing unintelligible in their conduct. 
The organic appetites which in all men tend to preserve 
the individual life and to maintain the species, and the 
derivative impulses which seek shelter, warmth, covering, 
and the intellectual, moral and spiritual impulses which 
result in higher culture, are all found in ordinary criminals. 
In the depraved classes the lower forces are dominant ; the 
person is egoistic ; the nobler nature is dwarfed, perverted 
or merely rudimentary. But the wildest freaks of the crimi- 



112 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

nal may be understood by patient and sympathetic study. 
Theft is an evil direction of the universal desire for the 
means of satisfying physical and other wants. Erotic vices 
are exaggerations of sins not unknown in polite society. 
Tattooing is an expression of nascent aesthetic tastes. Sen- 
timentalism is deformed sentiment. The brigands' super- 
stition is the seamy side of the religious faculty. 

Ellis gives a summary of crime causes under the head 
"cosmic, biological, and social." 

i. Cosmic Causes. — Morrison has given the results of in- 
vestigations of the effect of, a) climate on the production of 
crime and the determination of its forms. There can be 
no question that climate has some influence on conduct 
and character ; but the phenomena of climate are so inter- 
mingled with those of history, race, and social customs that 
hitherto few definite conclusions have been reached. Appar- 
ently crimes against the person are more common in the 
South of Europe while crimes against property are more 
common in the North of Europe. 

Quetelet says, " the number or crimes against property 
relatively to the number of crimes against the person in- 
creases considerably as we advance toward the north" 
(Tarde agrees with him). 

Enrico Ferri arrives at the conclusion " that a maximum 
of crimes against the person is reached in the hot months, 
while, on the other hand, crimes against property come to 
a climax in the winter." 

b) The effect of the seasons on crime is more distinctly 
marked. The criminal within and without the prison is 
liable to attacks of irrational lav/less impulses, and these 
attacks increase in the summer. Throughout Europe the 
greater number of suicides happen in the two warm seasons. 



CRIME CAUSES. I I 3 

" The prevalence of suicide rises and falls with the sun. 
In London there are many more suicides in the sunny 
month of June than in the gloomy month of November." 
The influence of temperature on other forms of crime, 
though not so great as with suicides, is very distinctly 
shown in statistics. " Between six and eight per cent, of 
the crime committed in England, may with reasonable 
certainty be attributed to the direct action of temperature." 
(Morrison). " In the Italian prisons, in the four hottest 
months, there are the greatest number of offences against 
prison discipline." (This judgment of Marro is questioned 
by Colajanni). 

2. The Biological Factor. — It is assumed that the psychi- 
cal character and conduct are affected by the physical 
condition, especially of the brain and nervous system. All 
admit this to be true when the nervous derangement is 
manifest. Deviations from the normal condition may 
have their origin in eccentric variations from the family 
type (atypic), or in reversion to former states (atavism), 
or in morbid degeneration and deformity, — congenital or 
post-natal. Lombroso's work emphasizes the conviction 
that as we are all descended from savages, criminals are to 
be regarded as examples of reversion to primitive character. 
He does not deny other factors but makes much of atavism. 
But Lombroso's views are by no means universally accepted 
as final, nor are they claimed to be so by himself. His 
writings cannot be ignored, and they mark an epoch in 
the study of crime causes. 

" A great portion of the crimes of modern days are but 
our inheritance from a past state of barbarism. Naturalists 
of the modern school point out primitive organisms which 
still survive in their primitive form, though new species 



114 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

have been developed out of them. In the same manner 
there are still savages living in our midst, of the same 
blood and origin as ourselves, and yet unlike us in all 
except our common ancestry." (Pike). On the " Crimi- 
nal" Traits of Savages see Fiske, Discovery of America, 
Vol. i, p. 49. 

"The transmission of an improvement of natural capa- 
city, mental as well as bodily, by exercise and training, is 
not only a reality but a chief determining factor in the 
evolution of the race. . . . This theory of mental heredity, 
manifestly tends to support the conclusion that the child 
brings with it into the world an outfit of instinctive ten- 
dencies or dispositions constituting the natural basis of the 
civilized and moralized man. These tendencies, being 
comparatively late in their acquirement by the race, are 
necessarily inferior in strength to the deeper -seated and 
earlier - acquired impulses of the nature -man or savage." 
Sully. " The Human Mind," Vol. I, p. 139. He notices 
the objections of Weissman, but does not consider them 
conclusive. 

V 

3. The Social Factor. — In Part I. these elements have 
been noticed, — defects in domestic, industrial, govern- 
mental, educational, ecclesiastical, social and international 
relations. The analyis there made need not be repeated 
here. The Degenerate Stock has three main branches, 
organically united, — Dependents, Defectives and Delin- 
quents. They are one blood, and they tend to congregate 
in one social environment. 

A few illustrations may be added. 

Educational defects as cause of crime. " The Federal 
Bureau of Education, from statistics applying to twenty 
states, has recently formulated these conclusions : (1) That 



CRIME CAUSES. I I 5 

about one - sixth of all the crime in the country is commit- 
ted by persons wholly illiterate. (2) That about one -third 
of it is committed by persons practically illiterate. (3) 
That the proportion of criminals among the illiterates is 
about ten times as great as among those who have been 
instructed in the elements of a common school education 
or beyond." We must be our own guard, however, against 
overestimating the value of mere instruction without moral 
training and power to gain a livelihood by skilled labor. 

See Pike, History of Crime, near close of Volume II. 

Mr. C. E. Felton (N. P. A., 1891, p. 113), has thus sum- 
marized the chief social factors which cause crime: "The 
ease with which habitual criminals avoid arrest, and thereby 
or otherwise escape punishment for their offences; the light- 
ness of sentences if convicted ; the laxity of discipline in 
our prisons ; the present senseless views of the public and 
the acts of the legislatures as to systems of prison labor, 
and its ease to the prisoner ; the abundance and variety of 
the food received ; the comfortable quarters in which pris- 
oners are housed ; the easy access of friends by visitation ; 
and the readiness with which a sensational press and a sym- 
pathetic public accepts as true the complaints of prisoners, 
thereby making the prison officer the recognized servant of 
the prisoners through the public. . . . The lack of 
police surveillance over the discharged criminal also in- 
creases the temptation to renew crime life." 



Mr. C. F. Coffin, after a visit to England, expresses 
these judgments: (1) The judges (in England) have got 
in the habit of passing shorter sentences. (This tends to 
diminish the prison population). (2) Fines have been 
largely substituted for imprisonment. (Same effect). (3) 
Emigration has sent out many criminals. We receive those 



Il6 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

sent out, and thus, while crime seems to decrease in Eng- 
land, it increases with us. (Census Bulletin 31). Our county 
jails and prisons mingle the young with old adepts and 
form schools of crime. The effects of slavery in the South 
and of unsocial economic conditions everywhere, low wages, 
extravagance, class strife and hatred, are to be counted 
among social causes of lawlessness. 

Cf. Hon. R. B. Hayes and Judge Wayland, N. P. A., 1891, p. 17 
and p. 39. 

Economic Causes of Crime. — " If love is, as the poet says, 
the tyrant of gods and of men, it is certainly much less so 
than hunger. Misery is a worse counsellor than amorous 
passions. To cite only one proof, the statistics of France, 
from 1836 to 1880, established the fact that after physical 
suffering and cerebral maladies, misery, reverses of fortune 
and drunkenness, are the worst general determining motions 
of suicide. Family disgraces, lust, jealousy, and debauch 
fall into the third grade. And it must be admitted that in 
case of cerebral disorders and family disgrace, the loss of 
money, or an unhappy situation, are very important consid- 
erations." (De Greef.) Cf. Marshall's " Principles of Eco- 
nomics, " pp. 1-3. 

" Criminals are men who, in a great degree, are moved 
and directed by the impulses around them; their characters 
are formed by the civilization in which they move. They 
are, in many respects, the representative men of the country. 
It is a hard thing to draw an indictment against a criminal 
which is not, in some respects, an indictment of the com- 
munity in which he has lived. " Governor Seymour. N. P. 
A., 1890, p. 71. 

" Yet why, you ask, these humble crimes relate, . 
Why make the Poor as guilty as the Great ? 



CRIME CAUSES. I I 7 

To show the great, those mightier sons of pride, 

How near in vice the lowest are allied ; 

Such are their natures and their passions such, 

But these disguise too little, those too much : 

So shall the man of power and pleasure see 

In his own slave as vile a wretch as he ; 

In his luxurious lord the servant find 

His own low pleasures and degenerate mind : 

And each in all the kindred vices trace, 

Of a poor, blind, bewilder'd, erring race, 

Who, a short time in varied fortune past, 

Die, and are equal in the dust at last." 

Crabbe, "The Village." 

" Tremble thou wretch, 
That has within thee undivulged crimes 
Unwhipped of justice." Shakspeare, " Lear," III. 2. 

4. The Personal Will counts for something as a cause of 
criminal conduct. Men choose to do evil deeds, and thus, 
through habit, set up evil dispositions, and such dispositions 
become, in turn, the fountain of other evil deeds. Crimes 
not only come to people but come from people. It is on 
this fact of freedom to choose or refuse that we base our 
social judgments and our appeals for moral reformation. 
At any rate Judge Way land is right in saying to those who 
plead the bondage of will: "The less the criminal's will is 
free, the more his body should be held fast." Stephen says : 
" Each individual man is an unknown something, — as such 
he is other and more than a combination of the parts which 
we can see and touch, — and his conduct depends upon the 
quality of the unknown something which he is." This is a 
rather vague way of admitting freedom of will. The power 
to refuse and choose is no more "unknown" than the 
power to see or hear or judge. 

The necessity for avoiding hasty and narrow generaliza- 
tions is happily put by Rev. F. H. Wines in the Census 



I 1 8 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

Bulletin 182: " Ignorance is a cause of crime. Neverthe- 
less 66.57 per cent, of all prisoners charged with homicide 
have received the rudiments of an education, in English or 
in their own tongue, and 3.44 per cent have received a 
higher education. Ignorance of a trade is a cause of crime. 
But 19.35 per cent are returned as mechanics or appren- 
tices, and a much larger number have the necessary skill to 
follow mechanical pursuits. Idleness is a cause of crime. 
But 82.21 per cent, were employed at the time of their 
arrest. Intemperance is a cause of crime, though a less 
active and immediate cause than is popularly supposed. 
But 20.10 per cent, were total abstainers, and only 19.87 
per cent, are returned as drunkards. The root of crime is 
not in circumstances, but in character. The saying of the 
Great Teacher will forever remain true: 'Out of the heart 
proceed evil thoughts, murders.' Science confirms the 
moral teaching of religion. " 

On the Causes of Crime, see Lombroso " Criminal Man," early chap- 
ters, and the introduction by Letourneau. 

Morrison, "Crime and Its Causes." 

G. Rylands, "Crime, Its Causes and Remedy." 

Dugdale's "The lukes." 

MacDonald's "Criminology." 

Letourneau, "Evolution Juridique." 



I 






V 



CHAPTER XXII. 

CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PHYSICAL. 

"There are no crimes; there are only criminals!" — Lacassagne. 

"It is well, that the problem of the science of criminal 
anthropology has been attacked from its most important 



CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY PHYSICAL. I ig 

side, that of the type This point is scarcely recognized, 

even by the most respectable savants. The reasons for this 
are many: above all, there are the criminals by occasion or 
by passion, who do not belong to the type, and should not." 
(Lombroso.) 

It should be understood that the marks here given are 
those which belong to the "criminal type." The books of 
H. Ellis and A. MacDonald supply to English readers the 
established results and the tentative generalizations of the 
European investigations. We shall briefly indicate these as 
suggesting the principles of social treatment. It must be 
said that very eminent students regard the evidence as 
inconclusive and very contradictory. 

i. The Skull and Brain. — It is understood that we are 
here dealing with a special and limited class of law-breakers, 
the "Instinctive Criminals." Among all the persons actually 
charged with crime, comparatively few can be distinguished 
from normal men by physical characteristics. It is none 
the less important to secure reliable means of distinguish- 
ing even a small class of law-breakers. The following state- 
ments indicate the present state of knowledge, but they 
must be received with caution, as open to modification by 
further study. "The average size of criminal's heads is 
probably about the same as that of ordinary people's 
heads ; but both small and large heads are found in greater 
proportion, the medium-sized heads being deficient." 
Thieves more frequently have small heads; the large heads 
are usually found among murderers." (Ellis.) The peculiari- 
ties of the skull are apparently exaggerated. If the crimi- 
nal belongs to a race with long skulls that characteristic is 
apt to be marked. So in the broad-headed races. The 
pointed top is often found among criminals. In a "com- 



120 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

plete criminal" one may expect "a feeble cranial capacity, a 
heavy and developed lower jaw, a large orbital capacity, and 
jutting eye arches. The skull is often abnormal and asym- 
metrical." (Letourneau.) A receding forehead is found 
among persons of unusual mental power, but, taken together 
with other defects, is one mark of inferior organization. 

The study of the brains of criminals, in comparison 
with those of normal persons, has reached certain tentative 
generalizations. Topinard finds an inferiority of some 30 
grammes in the average weights. But the shape, quality, 
development and conditions of the brain are more import- 
ant than the size. " What the brains of criminals present, not 
characteristically, but in common with those of other indi- 
viduals badly endowed, though by no means criminals, is a 
frequent totality of defective conditions from the point of 
view of their regular functions, and which renders them 
inferior." (Herve, quoted by Ellis). 

Various diseased conditions have been found in the 
brains of criminals beyond the average of men, as " pig- 
mentation, degenerating capillaries, cysts, thickened and 
adhering membranes, the vestiges of old hyperaemia and 
haemorrhages." Meningitis is common. In the foetus and 
developing child the brain affects the skull, and in later 
years it seems probable that the abnormal forms and pre- 
cocious closing of the skull affect the brain. They seem to 
have mutual influence on each other. But which is primary 
we cannot yet determine. In the same way while the 
abnormal brain affects character and habits, the indulgence 
of vices or bad habits of any kind, in consequence of defec- 
tive training, helps to shape the brain and determine its 
condition and structure. The food, drink, home training, 
temper, conduct may leave deep marks on the brain which 
were not congenital. 



CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY PHYSICAL. 



121 



2. The Face. — Assuming provisionally that congenital 
criminals are examples of reversion to inferior ancestral 
character, or are instances of arrested and perverted devel- 
opment, we should expect points of resemblance to sav- 
ages, imbeciles, and the insane. Some of these marks 
are pointed out by criminologists, but the ground is 
too new for dogmatic generalizations about physiognomy. 
MacDonald's conclusion is a model of scientific caution : 
" Physiognomy, though uncertain, gives us valuable hints 
sometimes. " Prisoners with hair clipped, beard two days 
old, eager to escape, balked in plans, look much more like 
savages than the same men dressed in citizens' garb and 
walking on the street. It is thought by many experts that 
the following facial marks characterize a large number of 
instinctive criminals. "The criminal, as to aesthetic physi- 
ognomy, differs little from the ordinary man, except in the 
case of women criminals, who are almost always homely, if 
not repulsive." "The beard is scant or absent, but the hair 
abundant. The ears project. Very often the nose is 
twisted or flat. The countenance is often feminine with the 
man, virile with the woman. The Mongoloid projection of 
the zygomatic arches is not rare." "The intellectual physi- 
ognomy shows an inferiority in criminals, and when in an 
exceptional way there is superiority, it is rather of the 
nature of cunning and shrewdness. The inferiority is 
marked by vulgarity, by meager cranial dimensions, small 
forehead, dull eyes. The moral physiognomy is marked in 
its lowest form with a sort of unresponsiveness ; there is 
sometimes the debauched, haggard visage." The different 
kinds of criminals have characteristic features. "Those 
guilty of rape (if not cretins) almost always have a project- 
ing eye, delicate physiognomy, large lips and eye - lids ; the 
most of them are slender, blond, rachitic. The pederasts 



122 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

often have a feminine elegance, long and curly hair, and, 
even in prison garb, a certain feminine figure, a delicate 
skin, childish look, and abundance of glossy hair, parted in 
the middle. Murderers, and thieves who break open 
houses, have woolly hair, are deformed in the cranium, have 
powerful jaws, enormous zygomae. Habitual homicides 
have a glassy, cold, immobile, sometimes bloody, and 
dejected look; often an aquiline nose, or, better, a hooked 
one, like a bird of prey, always large; the jaws are also 
large, ears long, hair woolly, abundant and rich (dark) ; 
beard rare ; canine teeth, very large ; the lips are thin. A 
large number of forgers and swindlers have an artlessness, 
and something clerical in their manner, which gives confi- 
dence to their victims ; some have a haggard look, very 
small eyes, crooked nose, and face of an old woman." — 
(MacDonald). Many persons having these marks have 
never become criminals, but when many elements of inferi- 
ority are combined, the liability to yield to temptation is 
increased. Lombroso quotes proverbs which prove that 
these signs of facial expression have produced a popular 
impression which agrees with that made upon the minds of 
careful observers. The pallid skin, the scant beard, the mas- 
culine voice, and bearded face of woman, the smiling counte- 
nance averted, the small and twinkling eyes, are all noted in 
these sayings of the nations. The statues of Nero, Tiberius, 
and Caligula show the reflection of their biographies. Sen- 
sitive women, ignorant of the seamy side of life, shrink instinc- 
tively from the presence of the criminal. While police judges 
and officers may be unable to analyze their impressions, they 
can usually discriminate members of the lawless classes from 
others with a fair degree of accuracy. But the marks by 
which they judge are, perhaps, more often the signs of 
vicious habits than of congenital defect and monstrosity. 



CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY PHYSICAL. I 23 

The Teeth. — Since dental anomalies are supposed to 
mark reversion, the teeth of criminals are being studied. 
"A fourth molar, found generally among the platyrhine 
apes, is occasionally found in man." They may be looked 
for in criminals. Peculiarities of size and defect in the 
canines have been observed. In idiots the teeth and palate 
are frequently deformed. No generalized conclusions seem 
to be reached. 

The Ears. — It is thought that the "criminal type" shows 
in an unusual number of examples voluminous, projecting, 
handle -shaped ears; pointed projection in the outer mar- 
gin of the ear (" Darwinian tubercle"), the doubling of the 
posterior branch of the fork of the antihelix, a conical 
tragus, and absence of lobule. 

The Nose. — Ottolenghi thinks the "criminal nose in 
general is rectilinear, more rarely undulating, with hori- 
zontal base, of medium length, rather large, and deviating 
to one side." 

Wrinkles are frequent, even in young criminals, and give 
to them the appearance of age. The expression of lower 
impulses, as shown in the marks about the nose and mouth, 
is more pronounced than that of the eyes. Intelligence 
and geniality are seldom manifested in the habitual lines of 
the face. 

3. The Hair. — Beards are thought to be usually scant 
and hair abundant and dark. Baldness is rare. Nothing 
decisive is asserted as to color. 

4. The Bony Structure, muscular system, and internal 
organs. — The points most frequently observed are the 



124 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

unusual length of the extended arms, the feeble muscular 
energy, grave deficiency in the lungs and chest, stooping 
shoulders, excessive number of cases of heart disease, abnor- 
mal and diseased sexual organs. These defects go with all 
others which show the criminal type to be degraded and 
defective. Some of the peculiarities noticed in criminals 
are common with epileptics and imbeciles. But the rela- 
tion of insanity to crime is a matter of grave controversy, 
and the boundary lines are not fixed in medical or legal 
science. 

5. Insensibility. — In persons of the criminal type 
physical insensibility is noticeable, while they are peculiarly 
sensitive to meteoric changes. We have seen that crimes 
increase with hot weather and that prison discipline is more 
difficult in summer and just before electrical storms. 
Many criminals are very agile and quick in their move- 
ments, but they have low powers of endurance. The 
average of the color-blind is high. The number of left- 
handed criminals is above the normal. As with the lower 
races and idiots, so among criminals, we find a general 
incapacity for blushing. The smygmograph reveals feeble 
vascular reaction. The pulse shows a change by the 
plethysmograph when objects are presented which excite 
fear, lust, and most of all, vanity. 

The average eyesight of criminals is good. The sense 
of hearing is often obtuse. The olfactory sense is defect- 
ive. The sense of taste is more developed in the normal 
man than in the criminal, and more developed in the 
occasional criminal than in the instinctive criminal. 

Of special interest is the insensibility to pain which is 
shown very generally by criminals. This they share in 
common with the lower races of mankind and imbeciles, 



CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY PSYCHICAL. I 25 

a fact which suggests either degeneration, arrested devel- 
opment or atavism, or all of these. Many illustrations are 
given by Lombroso, Ellis and MacDonald. Criminals 
recover rapidly from wounds, unless alcohol or some 
specific poison aggravates the sore. 

These facts of physical insensibility are closely con- 
nected with the moral obtuseness of criminals which is so 
plainly marked, and may be regarded as both cause and 
effect of crimes which are selfish and cruel. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY PSYCHICAL. 

Holding steadily in mind the fact that we are now con- 
sidering only one class of those named " criminals" before 
the law, the " instinctive" criminals, we may sum up the 
chief characteristics. We refer to Lombroso, Ellis, MacDon- 
ald and others for illustrations. 

1. Intellectual Power and Intelligence. — Lombroso gives 
as a result of his investigations, his judgment that if we 
could establish an average of mental ability with the pre- 
cision possible in the case of observations on skulls, it would 
be found that the average is lower than the normal, with 
exaggerations of superioritv and inferiority. The intel- 
tectual life of instinctive criminals is affected by their 
physical condition and moral peculiarities. They are 
lazy and incapable of continuous application. In conse- 
quence of this fact they are poor scholars, slow and uncer- 
tain in their progress. They are "thoughtless," in the 



126 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

sense that they are frivolous and wanting in forecast. 
Their wit turns to making light of their offenses, and in 
ridicule of all things precious and sacred. Lombroso 
doubts a somewhat popular belief that if criminals would 
apply their talents to useful industry they would excel. 
Seldom can remarkable talent be found among them. They 
are impostors, but not skillful. Their combinations, more 
or less ingenious, lack coherence and logic. The skill 
they show is due chiefly to constant repetition of a narrow 
range of actions. Lombroso's theory that genius is akin 
to crime and insanity requires further examination and is 
much disputed, although cases of genius with congenital 
tendencies of a morbid nature have been found. 

The men of science furnish a small ratio of criminals, 
while the excitable and less balanced artistic temperament 
tends more frequently to anti - social habits. 

Language reveals intellectual traits as well as moral 
character and social tendencies. The peculiarity of the 
language of criminals is found in their slang (argot). The 
syntax and idioms of the ordinary language are not 
changed, but a new vocabulary is invented. The most 
general feature, and that which reminds us of primitive 
languages, consists in indicating an object by one of its 
attributes. Death is called " the cruel," " the certain." 
Slang reveals the hidden workings of the criminal mind. 
Shame is " the bloody ; " hour, " the rapid ; " the prison, 
"la petite sainte;" preaching, "the wearisome;" the 
moon, " the spy." 

Slang may be used to conceal one's meaning from 
listeners, in which case the word is lengthened or trans- 
formed, but by fixed rules understood in the choice circle 
of thieves. Words are borrowed from foreign tongues. 
The German thieves borrow Hebrew words; those of Italy 



CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY PSYCHICAL. I 27 

enrich their vocabulary from German and French sources. 
Archaic forms, long since disused, are preserved in this 
slang. English robbers are the most obstinate conserva- 
tors of Anglo-Saxon terms; as " frow " for girl, and 
" mems " for month. These forms rise and die, succeed- 
ing each other with rapidity. This corresponds to the 
fickle, volatile nature of the inventors. The slang of 
thieves belongs to the whole country, and runs even over 
political divisions as in Italy before the union of states. 
And some phrases, as " tick " for watch, are common in 
several nations. The lawless are vagabonds, and call 
themselves in German slang " strohmer," or running water. 
Among the causes of thieves' slang are the desire to con- 
ceal one's purposes from the public and from officers ; the 
inclination common to each social community and profes- 
sion to use phrases peculiar to its mode of life ; the caprice 
and hunger for fresh sensations ; love of irony and coarse 
pleasantry ; a propensity to look for the ridiculous side of 
events, common among vagabonds and idlers ; and tradi- 
tion, which binds century to century. Lombroso insists 
that atavism appears here a cause : " They speak as savages 
because they are savages in the midst of a brilliant 
European civilization." 

Cf. Lombroso, Ellis, MacDonald. Ave-Lallemant (Ueber die Gauner- 
thum) quoted by Schaffle, " Bau and Leben," Bud. I. 

Prison inscriptions, hieroglyphs and signs. — "The tramps 
in the United States have a regular system of marking 
doors and gates with chalk, which any one can observe in 
cities. Mischievous boys occasionally imitate these signs. 
They have been observed in all European countries. They 
are sign -posts for the confraternity. There is a hiero- 
glyphic for theft, for a theft completed, for the direction 
a thief has taken in flight, for a benevolent resident, a 



128 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

severe domestic, or a dangerous dog. Is it not curious 
that these ' savages in the midst of civilization ' should 
recur to the earliest forms of written language ? " The 
style of writing has been studied carefully, and some have 
thought it resembled that of the insane. But this is uncer- 
tain, and the matter requires further investigation. The 
inscriptions found on the walls of cells are full of interest 
as frank revelations of the mental traits and culture of 
criminals. These inscriptions manifest the shallow wit, 
the sentimentalism, the volatile emotion, the gross obscenity, 
the narrow mental range, and the lawless, egoistic impulses 
of this class. It is worth while to gather and preserve them, 
under careful watch and ward, in order to enter into the 
criminal mode of thought. Many prisons will furnish 
materials for the study. 

Literature. — Lombroso gives a chapter to this subject, 
and cites a considerable bibliography. Prose and poetry 
have been written by criminals and for criminals. Thieves 
eagerly devour such intellectual food, and their evil tenden- 
cies are aggravated by such means. The prison life has 
produced expressions of the pent-up passions and per- 
verted impulses of their inhabitants. One celebrates in verse 
his pillaging of the merchant on the road, his murder of the 
noble in his castle, his debauches, and loves to be honored 
as a king by the world. The weariness and terror, the 
loneliness and revenge of the life of prison are themes for 
their pens and songs. Very few criminals have been capa- 
ble of producing anything that could be called literature. 
The world could spare every line without serious loss. The 
" realism " which reproduces their life, though it be in the 
powerful hand of such men as Balzac, Hugo, Dumas and 
Zola, cannot be an enduring element in literature. True 
art cannot live except in pure and serene regions, and all 



CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY PSYCHICAL. I 29 

the more does it seek such an atmosphere when it feels the 
sad contrasts in the world. (Lombroso.) 

The writings of criminals are still human, and bear the 
marks of the redeeming instincts of humanity. As when 
one composes a poem, in which he sees in the darkness of 
his Italian cell the " little hands of his mother signalling 
her love to him, and the tears streaming from both her 
eyes," and tells her " we are in this hell, condemned, and 
you, dear mother, breathe in vain your prayers." But the 
glorification of lust, revenge and cruelty is more common, 
and has no rational use save to reveal the real character of 
this miserable class. 

Philosophy. — Prison inscriptions and poems reveal the 
ethical system of criminals. " He is unworthy of our 
esteem, who repents and proposes in the future to observe 
the laws. True men are rare who in the prison know how 
to laugh and play the fool." The great Italian writer 
quotes this sentence : " I will tear his face who speaks ill of 
the Vicaria (prison at Palermo). He who says that the 
prison corrects, oh ! how he deceives himself ! There we 
learn to take without being taken !" He adds : " They who 
believe in the reforming force of punishment have only to 
read this." Mr. Ellis says : " In considering the problems 
of crime, and the way to deal with them, it is of no little 
importance to have a clear conception of the social justifi- 
cation for crime from the criminal's point of view. Not 
only is he free from remorse ; he either denies his crime 
or justifies it as a duty, at all events as a trifle." He is a 
citizen of a different world from ours. He judges himself 
by the standards of his tribe. Among savages it is a merit 
to kill a member of a tribe with which a man's tribe is at 
war, and criminals are at war with us all. Many criminals 



130 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

on reflection are fatalists. " If God has given to us the 
instinct to steal, He has given to others the instinct to 
imprison us ; the world is an amusing theatre." Brown- 
ing's " Caliban on Setebos " reasons much like those 
criminals who are capable of speculation, for that great 
poet in this poem entered into the very soul of savages and 
of criminals. Cynical inscriptions are often found. Judges 
are all corrupt ; wealth buys liberty ; rich men are rascals, 
who are free through bribery ; women are not to be trusted. 
A Milanese thief said : "I do not rob ; I merely take from 
the rich their superfluities ; and, besides, do not advocates 
and merchants rob?" 

Gamblers sincerely regard their occupation as justifiable 
speculation. They cannot see the difference between their 
trade and any other. It is thus that the worst men keep 
their self-respect. " I may be a thief ; but, thank God, I 
am a respectable man." In the philosophy of criminals 
hunger brings back original communistic rights. So com- 
pletely are ordinary reasonings reversed in this social 
Inferno, that one man, cited by Ellis, soberly maintained 
that " thieving was an honorable pursuit," and that religion, 
law, patriotism, and bodily disease were the real and only 
enemies of humanity. 

2. Esthetic Marks, — The manifestations of artistic 
impulses in criminals show the same low average of dull- 
ness, incapacity, coarseness and eccentricity which we meet 
in their intellectual life. Tattooing is common among 
the lowest grade of criminals in all countries although 
it is by no means confined to them. Many persons of 
defective taste are fond of having pictures on their 
arms and breasts, even if they cause much pain. As tat- 
tooing is general among savages, the school of Lombroso 



CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY PSYCHICAL. I 3 I 

regard the modern use of it by law-breakers as an addi- 
tional proof of atavism. There is an additional motive in 
the gregarious and imitative instincts of this class, and in 
the proof of physical endurance of which these persons are 
so vain. " The greater number of tattooed criminals are 
found among recidivists and instinctive criminals, especially 
those having committed crimes against the person. The 
fewest are found among swindlers and forgers, the most 
intelligent class of criminals. Criminals frequently refrain 
from tattooing themselves because they know these marks 
form an easy method of recognition in the hands of the 
police. " (Ellis.) Erotic passion, religious sentimental- 
ism, vengeance, social ties all find expression in tattoo- 
ing. The poetry of criminals proves at once that* the 
aesthetic feeling is not extinguished by a life of crime, and 
that in such an atmosphere it can produce few perfect 
flowers. Such soil and climate are unfavorable to the 
growth of beautiful works. Cf. Tylor, Anthropology, p. 
237. 

3. Emotional and Moral Characteristics. — Instability is one 
of the most common traits of the instinctive criminal. 
Like savages, spoiled children and some of the insane, they 
are impetuous, fickle, changeful. Love may be intense 
to-day and to-morrow turn to murderous hate. Dickens has 
portrayed in Bill Sykes and his paramour this moral feature. 
Cf. Ribot, " Diseases of the Will." 

Sentimentalism. — The forger may be a model husband 
and father. The cruel murderer may be fond of a pet cat. 
There is in the most hardened men a tender spot some- 
where ; and it is on this side of their nature that efforts at 
reformation must begin. 



132 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

Vanity is thought to be almost universal. To indulge 
it men will take great risks in theft and with officers of 
justice. They will boast of their deeds even when- they 
thereby expose themselves to more severe punishment. 
With them moral order is wrong side out. The bottom is 
at the top. Assassins are proud of murder. Among 
thieves it is a real disgrace not to steal. A showy dress 
bought with the gains of crime is all the more attractive for its 
history. Hardened men will kill others or commit suicide 
in order to be sure of getting their names in the news- 
papers. There is a morbid hunger for notoriety which the 
sensational daily feeds and stimulates. In prison the 
greatest rascal is the envy of all, just as, among savage 
Indians, all the lads are eager to imitate the most bloody 
brave in adorning their belts with scalps taken by craft and 
murder. In the social treatment of crime this vanity must 
be considered. 

Moral Insensibility. — Closely connected with the physi- 
cal insensibility already mentioned is the moral insensibility 
of criminals. One who does not suffer pain and who is 
dull in imagination is apt to be quite indifferent to the 
pain of others. It is probable that a slight lapse from 
truth will give a morally healthy person more bitter pangs 
of remorse than a murder accompanied by torture gives to 
most murderers. In their cells criminals enjoy dreamless 
sleep and excellent appetite. They are not haunted by any 
fear from the moral authorities of the universe, nor dis- 
turbed by any shame. The only shame they feel among 
their comrades arises when the police have outwitted them. 

4. The Religious Ideas and Feelings of instinctive crimi- 
nals are dwarfed and distorted in common with the entire 



CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY PSYCHICAL. I 33 

psychical developments. They are affected by the creed of 
their country and of their associates. "The criminal's God 
of peace and justice is a benevolent guardian and an ac- 
complice." (McDonald). As the religious impulse en- 
forces the moral judgments derived from all sources, it will, 
of course, seem to stimulate or excuse the anti-social acts 
which are approved in the ethical code of criminal society.* 
But much of this evil direction of the highest nature must 
be due to the evil example, instruction and training of 
ecclesiastics. When the emphasis is laid on creed and ritual, 
rather than on righteousness, we must expect to find crime 
affected by this fact. It is easy to excite the religious feel- 
ings in our American prisons, and these emotions are not 
necessarily insincere. They simply lack depth and stabil- 
ity, and they are not supported by moral habits. It seems 
possible that many even of the lower kind of criminals 
could maintain a certain degree of moral and religious life 
so long as the prison walls act as substitute for personal 
will and character. In this view life-long imprisonment of 
incorrigibles may be an advantage to the criminals them- 
selves. Of the assertion made that the Italian criminals 
are generally religious Morrison says: "Such a sentiment 
may be common among offenders in Italy; it is certainly 
rare among the same class in Great Britain." 

It must be understood that many able students of crimi- 
nals seriously question the conclusions of Lombroso. Topi- 
nard, an anthropologist of highest distinction, finds no cer- 
tain marks on a criminal skull. Marro thinks a retreating 
forehead is not peculiar to this class. The conclusions in 
respect to the ear are not universally accepted. M. Joly 
thinks criminals are not particularly insensible to pain. 
The physiognomy of criminals is sometimes explained by 
their situation and habits rather than by heredity. The ob- 



134 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

jections are stated by Morrison, ch. vii. : "It cannot be 
proved that the criminal has any distinct physical conform- 
ation, whether anatomical or morphological; and it cannot 
be proved that there is any inevitable alliance between 
anomalies of physical structure and a criminal mode of life. 
But it can be shown that criminals, taken as a whole, 
exhibit a higher proportion of physical anomalies, and a 
higher percentage of physical degeneracy than the rest of 
the community. With respect to the mental condition of 
criminals, it cannot be established that it is, on the whole, 
a condition of insanity, or even verging on insanity. But 
it can be established that the bulk of the criminal classes 
are of a humbly developed organization. Whether we call 
this low state of mental development, atavism, or degeneracy 
is, to a large extent, a matter of words; the fact of its wide- 
spread existence among criminals is the important point." 
Degeneracy is sometimes inherited, and sometimes acquired. 
There is a close connection between madness and crimes of 
blood. 

Morrison presents objections to the conclusions of Lom- 
broso. " Summing up our inquiries respecting the crimi- 
nal type, we arrive, in the first place, at the general conclu- 
sion, that so far as it has a real existence it is not born with 
a man, but originates either in the prison, and is then 
merely a prison type, or in criminal habits of life, and is 
then a truly criminal type. As a matter of fact, the two 
types are in most cases cases blended together, the prison 
type with its hard, impassive rigidity of posture being super- 
added to the gait, gesture and demeanor of the habitual 
criminal. In combination these two types form a profes- 
sional type, and constitute what Dr. Bruce Thompson has 
called ' a physique distinctly characteristic of the criminal 
class/ It is not, however, a type which admits of accurate 



CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY PSYCHICAL. I 35 

description, and its practical utility is impaired by the fact 
that certain of its features are sometimes visible in men who 
have never been convicted of crime." 

The view of the anthropologists of Italy (Lombroso and 
others) that the "criminel-ne" has certain anomalies of 
skull, brain convolutions, retreating forehead, projecting 
and deformed ears, distorted nose, insensibility to pain, 
tattooing, slang (argot) etc., is questioned by Morrison. 

Letourneau, (" Evolution juridique," p. 509) says: " The 
'born criminal' exists, and when he unites in himself the 
larger number of the traits ascribed to him (by Lom- 
broso and his school) he is hardly corrigible. But what is 
the proportion of these degraded beings in the criminal 
population? We have not as yet exact information. Prob- 
ably much less than 'criminal anthropologists ' believe, since 
certain systems of graduated penalties, with individual and 
intelligent treatment, reduce the ratio of recidivists to ten 
per cent, or even to 2.68 per cent. In France it is 40, 
and in Belgium 70. The majority of criminals are crimi- 
nals of occasion, whom a good education, better conditions 
of existence, and even a penitentiary correction of a more 
intelligent and humane sort would be sufficient to save and 
regenerate. The 'criminals born,' truly incorrigible, those 
whom it is the social interest to keep confined, as the 
insane, are a small number. And these, it is proper to rec- 
ognize, are created, as Quetelet says, in large measure, by 
the vices of our social organization. They will become more 
rare when the profound reforms which the future promises 
shall have been accomplished, and society learns to treat 
them with humanity." 



I36 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY : SOCIAL ELEMENTS. 

Having considered certain characteristics of the mem- 
bers of the class of instructive criminals, we may here take 
into account several elements which aggravate or modify 
the tendencies to crime. 

1. Sex has , an important influence upon crime ca- 
reers. "According to the judicial statistics of all civilized 
peoples, women are less addicted to crime than men, and 
boys are more addicted to crime than girls. Among most 
European people between five and six males are tried 
for offenses against the law to every one female." (Mor- 
rison.) 

It is natural that women should more frequently be 
guilty of the crimes of infanticide and abortion. Owing 
to their feebleness, they must choose poison as their favorite 
method of committing murder. If women become crimi- 
nals at all, they are hard, cruel and incorrigible. A larger 
average number of them are recidivists. Shame once 
broken down, they are desperate. As women compete with 
men in industry and public life they furnish an increasing 
number of law-breakers, as in England and Scotland, and 
the Baltic provinces. The opening of new industries for 
women may be an economic necessity of our times, but it is 
certainly accompanied by alarming increase of crime among 
women. The only wonder is that there are still so few 
criminal women. 



CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY. I 37 

See C. D. Wright's Report, Commissioner of Labor, 1888. Pike, vol. 
2, p. 528. De Greef, Les Lois Sociologiques, 35-40. Letourneau, 
Evolution Juridique, p. 505. 

2. Relation of Crime to Vice. — We have noted the fact that 
the various extra -social classes are confluent. The vices of 
drunkenness, indolence, vagabondage, and prostitution lead 
directly into overt acts of an anti - social nature. The vices 
produce the crimes, and there is no distinct line of demarca- 
tion between them. 

3. Crime as a Profession. — In the part of population 
called " criminal" there are various strata or groups, each 
of which has distinguishing features. Men of certain 
endowments and defects drift toward the group to which 
they are most nearly allied ; and their circumstances act in 
the same direction. In every vocation, as is shown in cari- 
catures and higher art, there are physical traits and com- 
mon marks of dress, gesture and speech, which betray the 
nature of the calling. With instinctive criminals we must 
add the more serious deformities which mark them as 
abnormal. 

There are, however, swindlers, sharpers, confidence men, 
gamblers, and speculators in crime who constitute a sort of 
crime aristocracy, and show few of the signs noted in the 
instinctive criminals. In looking over Byrne's photographs 
there seem to be few faces which present anvthing unusual, 
although a few are really attractive. 

4. The Relations of Criminals to the Insane. — It is not 
necessary to repeat here what has been said in Part II., 
on the Insane, and especially on the Imbecile. "The 
group of instinctive criminals stands fairly apart among 
the other groups of criminals, approximating, but not 



I38 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

fusing with, these various morbid and atypical groups. . . . 
It is much to be able to see, even so clearly as we do to- 
day, the human classes of arrested or perverted develop- 
ment who lie in the dark pool at the foot of our social 
ascent. Even our present knowledge is sufficient to serve 
as the justification for a certain amount of social action." 
Social justice can never be complete until it considers the 
entire nature and antecedents of the criminal. The illegal 
action must not be judged apart from the man who commits 
it. And while much remains to be done by anthropologists, 
what they have given us is the only solid ground for social 
judgments and treatment. 

5. The Influence of Association. — All human beings are 
affected by the tendency to imitate, and this is especially 
true of the young and the untaught. Hence the power of 
the immediate social environment. To these universal 
impulses are due several phenomena of criminal life of 
supreme social interest. 

(a) Societies of the anti- social classes. Very famous 
are the "Camorra" and Mafia of Italy. But others are 
known in America. The " White Caps" of Indiana seem 
to have been associations of men to carry out lawless deeds. 
Bands of horse- thieves were once common in the West. 
Illicit distillers in the mountain regions of the South are 
described in current fiction. The police of our cities are 
constantly making discoveries of small groups of lawless 
men, and even boys, bound together for a common pur- 
pose. Gambling clubs are everywhere. The saloons furn- 
ish the resort, parlor and banking - place for associated 
criminals. 

Where there is a form of government the legislation of 
these associations is exceedingly severe. The death penalty 



CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY. 139 

is the usual mode of enforcing discipline. The instinct of 
primitive communism is shown in the requirement that 
stolen property must be divided. The revelation of a 
crime is, in this social circle, treated as a grave crime. 

(b) The public opinion of a criminal association is a 
curious and important study. It has an ethical code of its 
own. What is honorable elsewhere is shameful here. Rid- 
icule and bodily harm are penalties for what we call 
morality. 

(c) It is on the principle of social sympathy and imita- 
tion of associated persons that we can explain the outbursts 
of mob violence and the contagion or epidemics of crime 
which occasionally mark local or general history. In the 
French Revolution large masses of the population of Paris 
seemed to be insane with savage fury. In American cities, 
when some flagrant injury has stirred the people, many of 
them, especially if they come together, seem to be possessed 
by demons. Men who at other times manifest the disposi- 
tion of a civilized race, in an hour of association with those 
who are seeking revenge, lose the marks of centuries of 
Christianity and turn savages. The culture is like the crust 
over the fires of a volcano, and in a few minutes the primi- 
tive state of society reigns supreme. Many strikes issue in 
such scenes, not because those who engage in them are 
worse than other men, but because they have the same origin 
as other men. Consider what must follow when men of 
low instincts, perverse appetites and passions, and feeble 
social sympathies, are acted upon by powerful social cur- 
rents toward lawlessness. 

(d) Here we may note the influence of the representa- 
tions of crime and vice in painted or pictured form, in 
newspapers and cheap books. We do not have to travel to 
Italy for frequent illustrations. Every county jail in Amer- 



140 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

ica will supply them. Boys read the details of highway 
robbery and piracy, and set about organizing bands for 
similar depredations, The finer sensibilities of delicate 
minds are hardened by constant reading of details of cruel 
and unclean actions. Those who are already feeble in pur- 
pose and idle are more strongly influenced. The daily 
newspapers are sometimes direct stimulants of crime, while 
the vile stuff misnamed obscene " literature," the illustrated 
papers and books so frequently found in barber shops, 
saloons and other places of resort, are chargeable with the 
suggestion and provocation of all the impulses which lead 
to rape, theft, arson, robbery and murder. Publication of 
facts and names probably is deterrent, while publication of 
disgusting and brutal details tends to harden the good and 
augment the ranks of the human animals of prey. 

(e) In this connection Hypnotism finds a place. The 
instinctive criminal, in this respect as in others, is closely 
related to the Moral Imbecile who, as we have seen in Part 
II. is subject to the influence of suggestion. The employ- 
ment of hypnotism in detecting, and even curing crime, has 
been suggested for experiment. Hypnotic states have been 
simulated by criminals for purposes of blackmail. These 
obscure phenomena promise to throw some light on the 
criminal nature, but the subject is too new to furnish fixed 
results of general value. 

Lombroso recommends the following men and works as 
his coadjutors : 

Lacassagne, Archives a^ anthropologic criminelle. 

Liszt, Zeitschrift fur gesammte Strafsrecht. 

Reggio, Rivista sperimentale di freniatria. 

Mierzejewski, Messager de psychiatrie ; Bulletin de la socicte a" anthro- 
pologic (Bruxelles); Revue philosophique (Paris); and Revue scienti- 
fique. 

Kowalewski, Archives psychiatriques et legates. 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 1 4 1 

Morselli, Rivista di filisofia scientifica ; Archivio di psichiatria, etc. 
(Turin). 

Of books he names : 

Garofalo, Crimihologia. 

Ferri, 0?nicidio and Nnovi orizzonti di diritto penale. 

Balestrini, SulV aborto ed infanticidio. 

Lacassagne, Le tatouage. 

Tarde, Criminalite comparee. 

Ribot, Maladies de la volonte. 

Espinas, Societes animales. 

Flesch, Benedikt, Sommer and Knecht (on anatomy). 

Drill and Roussel (on young criminals). 

Guyau, Fouillee and Letourneau (on morals). 

I have mentioned many of the most valuable accessible 
works in connection with each topic. The " Reader's Guide" 
(Putnams) will give other titles. An exhaustive biblio- 
graphy may be found in McDonald's " Criminology," at 
the end. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

SOCIAL TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL HISTORICAL. 

The origin of law and order. 

" Cum prorepserunt primis animalia terris. 
Mutum et turpe pecus, glandem atque cubilia propter 
Unguibus et pugnis, dein fustibus, atque ita porro 
Pugnabant armis, quae post fabricaverat usus: 
Donee verba, quibus voces sensusque notarent, 
Nominaque invenere : dehinc absistere bello, 
Oppida cceperunt munire, et ponere leges, 
Ne quis fur esset, neu latro, neu quis adulter." 
Horace, Sat. I, iii, 99, quoted by Morgan, " Ancient Society." 

In order to understand the criminal and social reaction 
against him, we need to study the unsocial acts and con- 



142 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

duct in relation to the growth of the structures and func- 
tions of the social body. 

We shall in the main follow here the analysis of Mor- 
gan, Maine, Spencer, Tylor and Letourneau. Not that 
they are altogether in agreement, or that they have reached 
fixed conclusions, but that we may find in their writings an 
orderly arrangement of phenomena on which we may at 
least direct criticism. It is not even necessary to accept 
the extreme statements in regard to the antiquity of man 
or the absolute beginnings of man on earth. Leaving these 
questions quite open we can study the actual evils of human 
society as revealed in the history of the past and the con- 
ditions of various races now existing. The subject is instruc- 
tive to us, because we are certainly descendants of the 
savage and barbarous tribes of Scandinavian and Teutonic 
origin. 

We may be obliged, by our system of interpreting the 
Scriptures, to regard the savage and barbarous stages of cul- 
ture as conditions of degradation from a previous higher 
social state. But even then we must practically regard the 
immediate ancestors of existing races, all who appear in 
historical records and monuments, as ascending from low 
level by slow and irregular progress. Practically we can 
make no account of a primitive society of high moral and 
intellectual culture, and of such race no traces have been 
left ; certainly if anywhere not in the book of Genesis, 
where the moral and social level is indicated by pictures of 
passions, polygamy and anarchy. 

" Mankind is passing from the age of unconscious to 

that of conscious progress The study of man and 

civilization is not only a matter of scientific interest, but 
at once passes into the practical business of life. We trace 
in it the means of understanding our own lives and our 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 1 43 

place in the world, vaguely and imperfectly it is true, 
but at any rate more clearly than any former generation. 
The knowledge of man's course of life, from the remote 
past to the present, will not only help us to forecast the 
future, but may guide us in our duty of leaving the world 
better than we found it." Tylor, Anthropology, p. 439- 
440. 

The penal codes which have the greatest interest for us, 
are those of the American Indians, the Hebrew, the Roman, 
and the Teutonic. All these have affected our history and 
our modes of thinking and legislating. 

1. The Social Treatment of Crime by the American In- 
dians. — The Savage Ethnic Period. By this we do not 
mean a certain period in time, but a social condition. 
While it is supposed that all human beings were prim- 
itively savages, it is also true that some savages linger in 
our own times. Morgan ("Ancient Society") describes 
three stages, the Lower Status, Middle Status and Upper 
Status. 

" The Lower Status of savagery was that wholly pre- 
historic stage, when man lived in their original restricted 
habitat and subsisted on fruit and nuts. To this period 
must be assigned the beginning of articulate speech. All 
existing races of men had passed beyond it at an unknown 
antiquity." (Fiske.) 

The Middle Status of Savagery begins with the catching 
of fish and the use of fire. Then men could spread over 
the earth, at first following coasts and streams. " The 
natives of Australia are still in the Middle Status of Sav- 
agery." See Lumholz, " Among Cannibals." 

The Upper Status of Savagery marks its beginning by 
the invention of the bow and arrow. This improved the 



144 CRIME AND its social treatment. 

methods of warfare between tribes, and also enabled those 
who usedthe invention to kill wild game and increase their 
food supply. " The lowest tribes in America, such as those 
upon the Columbia River, the Athabaskans of Hudson's 
Bay, the Fuegians and some other South American tribes, 
are in the upper status of savagery." " During the periods 
of savagery, hatchets and spearheads were made of rudely 
chipped stones." They were prowlers, and had no village 
life. Barbarism likewise, according to Morgan, has three 
stages. The beginning of the lower status of barbarism 
was marked by the invention of pottery. Spear-heads and 
edged tools were more carefully chipped, then polished. 

The transition from the Lower Status to the Middle 
Status of barbarism is shown in the Old World by the 
domestication of horses, asses, oxen, sheep, goats, pigs and 
other animals. " Along with this goes considerable devel- 
opment of agriculture, thus enabling a small territory to 
support many people." In America these animals were 
unknown within historic times until they were brought 
over by the Spaniards. But the New World had maize, 
a nutritious and easily grown vegetable food. The potato 
was used in Peru. " The regular employment of tillage 
with irrigation " belongs at the early stage of the Middle 
Status of barbarism. Adobe -brick and stone for buildings 
belong in this period of culture. " Tools were greatly 
multiplied, improved polishing gave sharp and accurate 
points and edges, and at last metals began to be used as 
materials preferable to stone." In America copper was 
used, in the Old World " bronze." The Zunis, the Aztecs, 
the Mayas and the Peruvians, at the discover} 7 of America, 
had reached this stage. 

" The custom of human sacrifice seems to have been a 
characteristic of the middle period of barbarism, and to 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 1 45 

have survived, with diminishing frequency, into the upper 
period." (Fiske, p. 119). 

In the Old World the outward signs of culture were 
tents and herds, but at the same level in America were 
seen " strange and imposing edifices of stone." 

The Upper Status of barbarism is marked, in the Old 

World, by the smelting of iron. But in America no tribe 

had learned this art. The Homeric poems show that the 

Greeks of that age knew the use of iron. The Germans in 

the time of Caesar had gone so far. 

See Tylor, Anthropology, p. 279. The Works of Schliemann furn- 
ish illustrations. 

Fenton's Early Hebrew Life. Spencer, Prin. Soc. I. 724-737. 

Mr. Fiske thus sums up the normal conditions of social 
life among the savages and barbarians of America. " Inter- 
tribal warfare was perpetual, save now and then for truces 
of brief duration. Warfare was attended by wholesale 
massacre. As many prisoners as could be managed were 
taken home by their captors ; in some cases they were 
adopted into the tribe of the latter as a means of increas- 
ing its fighting strength, otherwise they were put to death 
with lingering torments. There was nothing which afforded 
the red man such exquisite delight as the spectacle of live 
human flesh lacerated with stone knives or hissing under 
the touch of firebrands, and for elaborate ingenuity in 
devising tortures they have never been equalled. Canni- 
balism was quite commonly practised. The scalps of slain 
enemies were always taken, and until they had attained 
such trophies the young men were not likely to find favor 
in the eyes of women. The Indian's notions of morality 
were those that belong to that state of society in which the 
tribe is the largest well-established political aggregate. 
Murder without the tribe was meritorious unless it entailed 



I46 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

risk of war at an obvious disadvantage ; murder within the 
tribe was either revenged by blood -feud, or compounded 
by a present given to the victim's kinsmen." 

While no private property exists, and marriage relations 
are very lax, — according to modern notions, — and murder 
without the tribe is meritorious, it might seem that " crime " 
would be impossible. In reality primitive societies are 
exceedingly strict and rigid in enforcing the accepted 
social and ecclesiastical creed. 

If the law of domestic life, for example, was that a man 
should take his wife from another clan, his own clan would 
find a way to enforce this law. It might be legal for a 
woman to have several husbands (polyandry), or for several 
brothers to have their wives in common, or for a man to 
lend his wife to a stranger. But if he transgressed the 
actual regulations of his clan he would be made to ex- 
perience the severest rigors of the law of his people. 

In industrial relations, while all lands and houses were 
possessed in common, each man might be required to furn- 
ish his share of the game or fish, or to cultivate the garden- 
plot assigned to him, for the common benefit. In case of 
neglect a severe penalty was enforced. Among the Mexi- 
cans " the delinquent member was deprived, not only of his 
right of user, but of all his rights as a clansman, and the 
only way to escape starvation was to work on some other 
lot, either in his own or some other clan, and be paid in such 
pittance from its produce as the occupant might choose 
to give him. " This is hardly different from slavery, 
and the outcast, if lazy, could be made to wear a wooden 
collar, and in the last resort he became a sacrifice of priests 
to the gods. 

The Aztecs lived in exogamous clans, and counted des- 
cent in the male line. The family, as we understand it, was 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 1 47 

vaguely distinguished from the clan, but there were penal- 
ties for sexual irregularities. The husband owned his wife 
and the clan protected his rights. All were obliged to 
marry. The penalty for the crime of resisting the custom 
of the clan was expulsion. As the number of articles of 
personal property increased, even while lands and houses 
were still owned in common, theft was possible within the 
clan, and a method of punishment had to be devised. Prob- 
ably this was at first the fist-right known among boys at 
our own schools ; but the individual would be supported 
by his clan chief, who was also judge. If crime, as denned 
by Stephen, is obstruction to the public authority, injury 
to the public order, to persons and to property, then 
within the clans of savages and barbarians crime was 
recognized and punished. Many of the details are lost 
beyond recovery, but the illustrations given serve to show 
the parallels and differences between primitive and modern 
codes. 

These additional illustrations of savage and barbarian 
codes may be given : 

" The ancient practice of blood revenge, which has pre- 
vailed so widely in the tribes of mankind, had its birthplace 
in the gens. It rested with this body to avenge the murder 
of one of its members. Tribunals for the trial of criminals 
and laws prescribing their punishment, came late into existence 
in gentile society ; but they made their appearance before the 
institution of political society. The crime of murder is as 
old as human society, and its punishment by the revenge of 
kinsmen is as old as the crime itself." (Morgan, Ancient 
Society, p. 77). 

Morgan quotes Adair's History American Indians : 

" Their hearts burn violently day and night without in- 
termission till they have shed blood for blood. They 



I48 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

transmit from father to son the memory of the loss of their 
relations, or one of their own tribe, or family, though it was 
an old woman. " 

But before revenge the members of the two gentes met 
in council, and an adjustment was sought by means of 
compensation to the relatives of the slain. 

" The property of savages was inconsiderable. Their 
ideas concerning its value^ its desirability and its inherit- 
ance were feeble. Rude weapons, fabrics, utensils, apparel, 
implements of flint, stone and bone, and personal orna- 
ments represent the chief items of property in savage life. " 
Morgan, Ancient Society, p 529. 

In such a condition of industrial society, " theft " within 
the clan would be almost unknown, and when it occurred 
the individual would protect himself if he could. 

2. The Hebrew Social Treatment of Crime. — Pre - Egyptian 
Period, to about 1550 B. C. General Social facts. Property 
consisted in flocks, herds, precious metals, utensils and to 
some extent, lands ; slaves were part of the family ; polyg- 
amy was known, but not common ; concubinage was general. 
The head of the tribal family was military leader, judge, 
priest and ruler, the government being patriarchal. Lewd- 
ness, incest and unnatural lust were abhorred. Gen. xxxviii. 
24. Revenge and lying were common, as shown in 
Jacob and Esau. Murder was punished by blood revenge. 
All the kinsmen of the slain person were bound to avenge 
his death, and the penalty might fall on any member of the 
family of the murderer as well as upon himself. 

The punishment of theft was capital. Wars were not 
very bloody, and spoils were their chief object. 

Egyptian Period. The Hebrews in Egypt increased their 
knowledge of industries ; polygamy continues ; national 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 1 49 

life takes form ; " Elders " represent the people in councils. 
In Egypt the Hebrews came into contact with a highly 
developed code of laws which had religious sanctions, and 
they were partly under its rule. Hanging was a customary 
mode of capital punishment ( Gen. xl. 22 ); and the criminals 
were kept 'bound' in prison (Gen. xxxix. 20) till their 
fate was decided ; whether it depended on the will of the 
sovereign, or the decision of the judges ; and these places 
of confinement were under the immediate superintendence, 
and within the house, of the chief of the police (Gen. xi. 3). 
( Wilkinson ), " Executions were made as a rule by the 

sword or the stick The Court sitting to judge the 

dead might prohibit the burial of sinners. " (Ebers). " The 
bastinado was inflicted on both sexes. " 

The time of the Wandering, under Moses, is ignored by 
many of the Old Testament critics, on the ground that the 
Pentateuch was written at a much later date, and that none 
of it belongs to this period. This is not the place for the 
discussion ; but the main points can be mentioned under 
the next head. 

Period of the Judges and the Monarchy. The people 
gradually pass from nomadic and pastoral occupations to 
agriculture. Manufactures are known. Slavery affects the 
forms of industry. Polygamy is a sign of social pre- 
eminence. Instances of concubinage are given. Fathers 
have power of life and death over their children. Laws are 
regarded as divine, without reference to their subjects. 
(Exodus xxi.-xxiii). Capital crimes were : reviling God, 
cursing the ruler, father or mother, killing a man with 
murderous intent, smiting parents, witchcraft, man-stealing. 
The custom of blood revenge is legally recognized. In 
case of manslaughter a refuge is opened. Private revenge 
is regulated by the law of taliation. In one case a fine is 



150 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

substituted. " If no mischief follow " the offender is to 
cause the damaged man to be thoroughly healed, and to 
pay for his loss of time. An ox goring a man to death, to 
be stoned ; the negligent owner to be killed if not ran- 
somed. The law of adultery, rape, trial of the bride is 
found in Deut. xxii, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27. Robbery and 
theft, Deut. xxiv. 7. Prov. vi, 30, 31. False evidence and 
taliation, Deut. xix. 16. 

If a slave is killed at once his owner is to be punished ; 
if seriously wounded, he is to be freed in compensation. 
A seducer is to marry the maid, or, if refused, to give her 
a dowry. Theft is to be punished by two -fold (stuff), 
four -fold (sheep), five -fold (oxen) restitution. No blood 
revenge admissible if a thief is killed in the act of break- 
ing in at night-time. The " elders " of the tribes were 
rulers, and they were gradually superseded by the rising 
royal authority under Saul. The rules and laws, unwritten 
and written, are regarded as divine commands. "Jus and 
fas, which words with the Romans from the eldest period 
clearly distinguished secular and ecclesiastical law, with the 
Israelites were combined in the one term Thora." (L. 
Auerbach). 

Examples : 

Sins treated as crimes: Deut. xihV 1-18, 20, 22 : xvii. 2-7, 12. 
Cities of refuge for manslayers : Deut. xix. 2-13 : xxiv. 16; 2 Kings 

xiv. 6. 
Responsibility of a society for a killing : Deut. xxi. 1-9. 

The popular form of capital punishment was stoning ; 
under the kings the sword. Criminals were put to death 
in fetters (2 Sam. iii. 34). Capital punishment was made 
more deterring by the addition of burning the remains 
(Josh. vii. 25), hanging the corpse (Josh. viii. 29), exposing 
the head (2 Kings x. 8) or limbs (2 Sam. iv. 12) in public, 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. I 5 I 

and heaping stones on the grave (Josh. x. 27). " Imprison- 
ing was not a regular punishment, but the kings had prisons 
in their own or their officials' houses. The food is described 
as particularly objectionable (1 Kings xxii. 27). The prison- 
ers' feet were forced into the holes of a block" (Job xiii. 21). 

Period of the Two Kingdoms. — The division of labor 
becomes more complex ; new industries are opened ; arti- 
cles of luxury are imported or manufactured ; commercial 
relations are extended into Asia, Europe and Africa. 
Slavery continues. The kings exact labor from the people 
for public works. While polygamy is known among the 
great, and the kings show their splendor in large harems, 
the custom of having several wives is not common. Con- 
cubinage is only too well known. Adultery of a betrothed 
or married wife is punished with death. The power of life 
and death is withdrawn from the father and transferred to 
the congregation. Parents and children are not longer 
legally answerable for each other. This marks the devel- 
opment of a political government and the disappearance of 
patriarchal institutions. 

The centralized royal power becomes almost absolute, 
and the king is held sacred. The tribal organization is 
continued, though it decreased in importance by the evolu- 
tion of royal rule and of town life. The heads of tribes 
and of sub -tribes become an aristocracy of the realm. In 
the northern kingdom the local administration of justice 
seems to have remained more or less in the hands of the 
" elders." King Jehoshaphat set judges through all the 
cities of Judah. More difficult cases were to be sent before 
the central court at Jerusalem. 

The priests sometimes, as under Jehoshaphat, gained a 
share in the administration of justice. 

Theories and sentiments associated with the law are : 



152 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

Sin is regarded as a rebellion against the Divine King ; 
early death, sickness, barrenness, are punishments of sin ; 
long life and multitude of descendants are rewards of 
virtue. The guilt of a sinner may be visited on his chil- 
dren or his people, but individual responsibility is set by 
the side of social and organic responsibility. With the 
growth of wealth and luxury the prophets warn the great 
men against deceit and oppression of the poor. 

Exilic Period, 598 B. C— Poverty and other influences 
seem to check polygamy. Locally justice was administered, 
according to the ancient laws of the Hebrews, with a politi- 
cal head over the exiles. 

Persian Period, 538 B. C. — Upon the return the courts 
of justice were reestablished. The high priest becomes 
the highest authority, and priests and scribes, as keepers of 
the law are supreme judges. 

Greek Period, 332 B. C. — Slavery continues, but treat- 
ment of slaves grows more lenient. Polygamy hardly 
general. Divorce is easy. The high priest is regarded as 
the chief political authority, and by the foreign rulers is 
placed near their representatives. Rulers and judges are 
appointed for districts. Greek towns with armed garrisons 
are planted. 

Period of Independence, 167 B. C. — The Asmoneans 
came to be regarded as royal. The Sanhedrim is the high- 
est legislative, administrative and judicial board. Owing 
to contests with foreigners the law becomes, with all its 
minute details, most scrupulously observed, and disobedi- 
ence is crime. 

Roman Period, 64 B. C. — By a law of Herod house- 
breakers might be sold into foreign slavery. Slavery for 
debt and theft continued. Polygamy legal, but not com- 
mon. Divorce for men more easy. In 7 A. D. the right 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. I 53 

of executing capital punishment was withdrawn from the 
Jews. Money compensation is now the rule instead of 
taliation for bodily harm. A thief shall restore four -fold 
or be sold into home slavery. Robbers were treated as 
enemies. Debtors are imprisoned. After Herod the 
priestship is separated from princeship. The Sanhedrim 
has judicial powers, under permission of Roman rulers. 
Local justice was administered by courts of seven judges. 
Additional references : See Schiirer's " The Jewish People 
in the Time of Jesus Christ." Ewald, "Jewish Antiquities." 

Transition from Barbarism to Civilization. — The transi- 
tion from ancient to modern laws, institutions, sentiments 
and theories of society in relation to crime is described and 
explained by Sir H. Maine, Ancient Law, ch. x.; H. Spen- 
cer, Principles of Sociology, Vol. II., pp. 229-643, Political 
Institutions. The details are shown more fully in the 
various volumes of " Descriptive Sociology," Pike's " His- 
tory of Crime in England," Guizot's History of Civilization, 
Green, Short History of the English People. 

Laws. — Mr. Spencer illustrates the development of four 
sources of law; inherited usages, special injunctions of 
deceased leaders, regulations given bv predominant men, 
public will and opinion. In primitive times these are 
confused, and only in lapse of time are differentiated. 
Secular and sacred laws and regulations mingle in one" 
code, in the laws of Moses and of Manu, for example. " To 
the injunctions of the undistinguished dead, which, quali- 
fied by the public opinion of the living in cases not 
prescribed for, constitute the code of conduct before any 
political organization has arisen, there come to be added 
the injunctions of the distinguished dead, when there have 
arisen chiefs who, in some measure, feared and obeyed in 
life, after death give origin to ghosts still more feared and 



154 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

obeyed. And when, during that compounding of socie- 
ties effected by war, such chiefs develop into kings, their 
remembered commands and the commands supposed to be 
given by their ghosts, become a sacred code of conduct, 
partly embodying and partly adding to the code pre- 
established by custom. The living ruler, able to legislate 
only in respect of matters unprovided for, is bound by 
these transmitted commands of the unknown and the 
known who have passed away ; save only in cases where 
the living ruler is himself regarded as divine, in which 
case his injunctions become laws having a like sacredness. 
Hence the trait common to societies in early stages, that 
the prescribed rules of conduct of whatever kind have a 
religious sanction. Sacrificial observances, public duties, 
moral injunctions, social ceremonies, habits of life, indus- 
trial regulations, and even modes of dressing, stand on the 
same footing." Disobedience to the public authority is 
both treason and irreligion, and hence the worst crime. 
The regulation broken may be foolish or trivial : disobedi- 
ence is crime. In process of time, on the field where the 
divine powers or ancestors have not delivered opinions, the 
ruler may give his own judgments. If he wishes to pass a 
sentence which conflicts with the religious code, he does it 
by means of a " legal fiction ; " he " interprets " the ances- 
tral law out of existence and substitutes one of his own. 
So secular laws grow. 

Procedure. — The courts and forms of procedure have a 
parallel development, from the council of the gens, phratry 
or tribe, through kings who combine military and ecclesias- 
tical authority in their absolute persons, down to the time 
when, once more, through delegated political bodies, the 
people speak their will in law. The court of primitive 
times is also legislative and executive in enforcing its de- 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. I 55 

crees. The same body which determines peace and war 
decides the compensation or penalty due in case of murder 
or theft. When a king rules absolutely he gives both law 
and decision. If an oligarchy rule, its votes are both laws 
and decrees of sentence in individual cases. But after a 
time kings find it necessary to set up courts to divide their 
judicial duties, and those, in time, become independent of 
him. With the growth of an intelligent industrial class the 
people assert their right to be judged by impartial courts. 
Thus, in brief, we come to have three coordinate branches 
of government, each subdivided and specialized, legislative, 
judicial and executive. 

Differentiation of Civil and Criminal Laics. — Another 
important change appears in respect to the law of crime. 
In the earlier codes " the civil part of the law has trifling 
dimensions as compared with the criminal .... The older- 
codes are fuller and minuter in penal legislation.' 1 '' 

" Nine-tenths of the civil part of the law practiced by 
civilized societies are made up of the Law of Persons, of 
the Law of Property and of Inheritance, and of the Law 
of Contract. But it is plain that all these provinces of 
jurisprudence must shrink within narrow boundaries, the 
nearer we make our approaches to the infancy of social 
brotherhood. The Law of Persons, which is nothing else 
but the Law of Status, will be restricted to the scantiest 
limits as long as all forms of status are merged in common 
subjection to Paternal Power, as long as the Wife has no 
rights against her Husband, the Son none against his 
Father, and the Infant Ward none against the Agnates who 
are his Guardians. Similarly, the rules relating to Prop- 
erty and Succession can never be plentiful, so long as land 
and goods devolve within the family, and, if distributed at 
all, are distributed inside its circle." (Maine). Contract has 



I56 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

no place in ancient Codes. But Criminal Law of early 
civilization is developed. Not, however, exactly in our 
sense of crime — an offense against the state. The offenses 
punished were treated as wrongs done to individuals, for 
which compensation was required, and sins for which an 
equalizing punishment was to be made to please the Deity." 
" The primitive history of criminal law divides itself, there- 
fore, into four stages. Understanding that the conception 
of Crime, as distinguished from that of Wrong or Tort and 
from that of Sin, involves the idea of injury to the state or 
collective community, we first find that the commonwealth, 
in literal conformity with the conception, itself interposed 
directly, and by isolated acts, to avenge itself on the author 
of the evil which it had suffered. This is the point from 
which we start ; each indictment is now a bill of pains and 
penalties, a special law naming the criminal and prescrib- 
ing his punishment. A second step is accomplished when 
the multiplicity of crimes compels the legislature to dele- 
gate its powers to particular Qusestiones or Commissions, 
each of which is deputed to investigate a particular accusa- 
tion, and if it be proved, to punish the particular offender. 
Yet another movement is made when the legislature, instead 
of waiting for the alleged commission of a crime as the 
occasion of appointing a Quaestio, periodically nominates 
commissioners like the Quaestores Parricidii and the Duum- 
viri Perduellionis, on the chance of certain classes of crimes 
being committed, and in the expectation that they will be 
perpetrated. The last stage is reached when the Quaes- 
tiones, from being periodical or occasional, become perma- 
nent Benches or chambers — where the judges, instead of 
being named in the particular law nominating the commis- 
sion, are directed to be chosen through all future time in a 
particular way and from a particular class — and when cer- 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. I 57 

tain acts are described in general language and declared to 
be crimes, to be visited, in the event of their perpetration, 
with specified penalties appropriated to each description. " 
(Maine, An. Law, pp. 372-3.) 

3. The Roman Penal Code. — Since the Roman Criminal 
Law extends over into the Christian Era, and carries with it, 
in its final forms Italian, Hebrew, Greek and Christian ele- 
ments, and combines them in the Justinian codes, I shall 
treat the subject as furnishing a bridge from pre - Christian 
to mediaeval times. 

We may take up the Codes of Justinian as a point of 
review and prospect. In these laws we discover elements 
derived from Roman, Greek and Hebrew-Christian sources. 
A full account of this famous legislation would include a 
summary of the legal and moral history of the Roman, 
Greek, Hebrew and Christian peoples up to the time when 
the barbarians of Northern Europe interrupted the pro- 
gress of civilization in Southern Europe. But these codes 
have more than a mere historic interest, for they have 
help to form modern legislation and judicial procedure, 
and are living and acting social forces at this hour. 

Authorities : Friedlander, " Sittengeschichte Roms." 

Gibbon, " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," ch. xliv. 

Histories of Rome by Duruy, Merivale. 

Mommsen, " History of Rome." 

Thierry, " Tableau de l'Empire Romain." 

Stephen, " History of English Criminal Law," vol. I. 

Letourneau, "Evolution Juridique." 

Cf. Grote, "History of Greece." 

The first literary monuments of Rome reveal the earlier 
forms of government in the gens and the family. The 
power, authority and responsibility of the father are the 
central elements of social control. The pater familias holds 



I58 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

in his own person all rights over the persons and goods in 
his domicile, even over life and death. All the " patres " 
constitute one Roman people. Strangers have no rights, 
no law, no tribunal. The most conspicuous embodiment of 
the Roman criminal code is the Law of the Twelve Tables. 
Their character has been drawn by Gibbon. 

The Twelve Tables " approve the inhuman and unequal 
principle of retaliation ; and the forfeit of an eye for an 
eye, a tooth for a tooth, a limb for a limb, is rigorously 
exacted, unless the offender can redeem his pardon by a 
price of 300 pounds of copper. The decemvirs distributed 
with much liberality the slightest chastisement of flagellation 
and servitude ; and nine crimes of a very different complex- 
ion are adjudged worthy of death. Any act of treason 
against the state, or of correspondence with the public ene- 
my. The mode of execution was painful and ignominious ; 
the head of the degenerate Roman was shrouded in a veil, his 
hands were tied behind his back, and after he had been 
scourged by the lictor, he was suspended in the midst of the 
forum on a cross, or inauspicious tree. Nocturnal meet- 
ings in the city ; whatever might be the pretense, of pleasure, 
or religion, or the public good. The murder of a citizen ; 
for which the common feelings of mankind demand the 
blood of the murderer. Poison is still more odious than the 
sword or dagger ; and we are surprised to discover, in two 
flagitious events, how early such subtle wickedness had 
infected the simplicity of the republic, and the chaste vir- 
tues of the Roman matrons. The parricide who violated 
the duties of nature and gratitude, was cast into the river, 
or the sea, enclosed in a sack ; and a cock, a viper, a dog, 
and a monkey, were successively added as the most suita- 
ble companions. The malice of an incendiary. After the 
previous ceremony of whipping, he himself was delivered 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. I 59 

to the flames ; and in this example alone our reason is 
tempted to approve the justice of retaliation. Judicial 
perjury. The corrupt or malicious witness was thrown 
headlong from the Tarpeian rock to expiate his falsehood, 
which was rendered still more fatal by the severity of the 
penal laws, and the deficiency of written evidence. The 
corruption of a judge, who accepted bribes to pronounce 
an iniquitous sentence. Libels and satires, whose rude 
strains sometimes disturbed the peace of an illiterate city. 
The author was beaten with clubs, a worthy chastisement, 
but it is not certain that he was left to expire under the 
blows of the executioner. The nocturnal mischief of 
damaging or destroying a neighbor's corn. Magical incan- 
tations." (Gibbon). The debtor's body, as we see else- 
where, might be divided among the creditors. But, as 
Gibbon says, "As the manners of Rome were insensibly 
polished, the criminal code of the decemvirs was abol- 
ished by the humanity of accusers, witnesses, and judges ; 
and impunity became the consequence of immoderate 
rigor." 

Gradually the plebeians are admitted to legal rights and 
even to office. In 266 B. C. a praetorship for strangers is 
erected. The "law of nations" grows out of intercourse 
with the conquered world that had to be governed and held 
in order. Greek philosophy widens the scope and enlarges 
the principles of the Roman Law. The despotism of the 
Emperors becomes the unconscious instrument of forming 
general laws capable of application to many nations. The 
growth of human sentiment and the rise of Christianity 
modify the severity and harshness of the ancient legislation. 
The right to expose his infant or slay his son is taken from 
the father. 

It was only under Christian influences that the act of 



l60 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

infanticide was made a crime. "The exposition of children 
was the prevailing and stubborn vice of antiquity : it was 
sometimes prescribed, often permitted, almost always prac- 
ticed with impunity, by the nations who never entertained 
the Roman ideas of paternal power." (Gibbon). 

It is in this state that the Roman law has come down to 
us, and that it has furnished the basis for modern nations 
which broke off from the Roman society. It holds then an 
immense place ; and this place will increase in the ratio that 
the feudal barbarism disappears and civilization extends. 
Bossuet (Discours sur Thistoire universelle, III. 6.) : "The 
Roman laws have appeared so holy that their majesty endures 
spite of the ruin of the Empire, and this is because good 
sense, which is the master of human life, reigns throughout, 
and that one sees nowhere a more beautiful application of 
the principles of natural equity." 

Stephen (His. Cr. Law Eng., vol. I, p. 9, ch. ii.) gives 
extracts from the Justinian Codes. 

"The Roman Lawyers in the days of Justinian divided 
crimes into these classes, Publica Judicia, Extraordinaria 
Crimina, and Privata Delicta." 

Publica Judicia related to crimes which were specifically 
forbidden by particular laws under defined penalties, capital 
(death or exile) or not. The Lex Julia Majestatis was 
aimed at crimes against public authority, as treason and 
related offences. The Lex Julia de Adulteriis punished 
sexual crimes. . . . The punishment of adultery was exile, 
the woman losing half her dower and a third of her goods, 
and the man half his goods. The Lex Julia de Vi Publica 
et Privata related to crimes of violence. The punishment 
of Vis Publica was exile, and in some cases death ; the pun- 
ishment of Vis Privata confiscation of the third of the 
offender's property and loss of certain civil rights. The 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. l6l 

Lex Cornelia de Sicariis et Veneficiis has homicide for its 
main subject. The Lex Pompeia de Parricidiis defines 
parricide as killing anv relative nearer than or in the degree 
of a first cousin. The Lex Cornelia de Falsis refers to forg- 
ing and counterfeiting. The punishment of ' falsum ' was, 
under the Antonines, in the case of a person of low rank, 
imprisonment in the mines ; in the case of a person of 
higher rank, forfeiture of goods, and relegation to an island. 
The Lex Julia Repetendarum punished official extortion, 
the penalty being death or fourfold damages, according 
to the crime. The Lex Julia de Amnona was like modern 
laws against forestalling and regrating. The Lex Julia 
Peculatus, etc., punished peculation with service in the 
mines, exile and forfeiture of property, the rank of the 
offender being taken into account. The Lex Fabia pun- 
ished selling a free man as a slave, at first with fine, but 
afterwards with the mines or death. The Extraordinaria 
Crimina were offences for which no specific law or punish- 
ment was provided. Here belong the attempt to seduce, 
corrupting of vouth, the introduction of a new religion, 
engrossing, abortion, vagabondage, plundering tombs, 
extortion, some kinds of theft, receivers of robbers, fraud, 
unlawful associations. Privata Delicta were offences for 
which a special action was set apart involving a definite 
result for the injured partv ; as theft, injuries to property, 
insults and wrongs done to reputation. 

Procedure under the later Roman Law. — The Empire was 
divided in the time of Constantine into four Praetorian 
prefects. There were two forms of prosecution, Public and 
Private. The public procedure was as follows : The miles 
stationarius, or his inferior officer, arrests. The Eirenarcha 
holds a preliminarv investigation (probably with the aid of 
torture) and commits for trial to the prison of the Civitas. 



1 62 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

The trial took place before the praeses, who had before him 
the report of the Eirenarcha. 

In the case of a Private Prosecution the accuser cited the 
accused before the Praeses, and obtained leave of the Praeses 
to prosecute. The parties appeared before the judge. The 
accuser took an oath that his accusation was not calumnious, 
and he was liable to fine if his cause was proved false. A 
day w r as fixed for the trial, and the judges or praeses heard 
the case and pronounced a verdict. 

Stephen says of the relation of Roman and English 
codes : " It is natural to suppose that the system described 
above obtained here (in Britain) as well as elsewhere (before 
409 A. D.) Whether any part of it escaped the German 
conquest, and so influenced the earlier and ultimately the 
existing English law is a question of purely antiquarian inter- 
est. The important influence of Roman upon English law 
was exercised through the founders of the English common 
law long after the Norman conquest. It had little or no 
influence on the modes of procedure. These were derived 
from other sources." We shall now indicate some of these 
other sources. 

English History of Crime in these Periods. — The domi- 
nant theories, sentiments and law r s of our age contain ele- 
ments desired from the theories, sentiments and laws of our 
ancestors, and especially of our English ancestors. 

The most important of these elements are : (a) Barbarian, 
derived from the original British tribes, and the later Teu- 
tonic tribes which came in after the Romans retreated from 
the island ; Roman, derived from the Roman occupation 
age, from the Normans, and from the influence of Roman 
legislation on more modern thought. 

(b) As we have seen, the Roman code itself was a prod- 
uct of Roman, Greek, Hebrew and Christian influences. 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 1 63 

(c) The development of the English people under influ- 
ences economic, domestic, moral, social, political, religious. 

Authorities for the History of Crime in England : 

Green, Short History of the English People. 

Pike, History of Crime in England. 

Stephen, History of Criminal Law in England. 

Letourneau, Evolution Juridique. 

H. Spencer, Descriptive Sociology — English. 

We have already studied the principles of the social 
treatment of crime among savages and barbarians. 

Remembering that at the time of the Roman conquest, 
just before the Christian Era, the British Isles were pop- 
ulated by barbarians, we might here repeat the essential ele- 
ments of the Criminal Codes of that time. The former 
discussion has prepared us for this study. 

The British Period to j8 A. D. — It is known that they 
had towns, centers of trade, and even foreign commerce, 
with rings of bronze and iron for money ; some manufac- 
tures of cloth, weapons ; and certain rights of property were 
recognized and protected. The lex talionis was common in 
this age, with beginnings of compensation. 

In the lower stages of growth homicide (or theft) would 
be followed, if possible, by death. But as property in- 
creased, and the chief exercised authority, and it became 
evident that the full fighting force of the tribe was needed, 
homicide was compensated by a fine. Pike, Hist. Crime, 
Vol. I, p. 43. 

TJie Ronian Period, 78 A. D. to 420 A. D. — It is not 
known how far outside of the Roman towns the influence 
of the Roman laws extended. Pike thinks the Roman law 
was very generally enforced, and that life and property were 
relatively secure in South Britain ; while others think the 
Roman rule was confined to the towns and colonies. 



164 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

The " English" History beginning with 449 A. D. The 
people who conquered and perhaps exterminated the Britons 
were Germans. They were pagan Germans, from the far 
north where Christianity had not reached. (Green, I.) We 
must, therefore, study the Teutonic code in respect to 
crime if we would know how our ancestors treated it. 

1. The Old English Period.— This " Old-English " period 
is divided into two parts : Pagan, 449-596; Christian, 596- 
1066. 

We may follow at this point the course of argument pre- 
sented by Letourneau, in " Evolution Juridique." The Ger- 
manic laws were coarse and rude, like their authors, and 
correspond to the upper status of barbarism. " The law 
of vengeance is at the foundation, and that which distin- 
guishes them is the excessive extension of pecuniary com- 
pensation and the minute care with which they set a tariff 
price on all crimes and wrongs. Without doubt the system 
of pecuniary compensation and penal tariffs has been 
universally spread over the world, but few peoples have 
made so general a use of them as the Germans." 

Examples of these tariffs are found in the authorities 
given for the period. 

Of Homicide. — The right of vengance had not ceased to 
be in vigor, but it had already assumed a judicial form. 
Ordinarily the relatives do not kill the murderer of one of 
their number ; they prosecute him judicially, and this 
prosecution was itself a duty, as in an earlier age a bloody 
vengeance would have been. A law of France commanded 
the confiscation of the patrimony of children who neglected 
to prosecute the murderer of their father. . . . The compen- 
sation was awarded, half to the paternal and maternal rela- 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 165 

tives, half to the son ; in the absence of relatives it goes to 
the treasury, and in the end the government regularly took 
a share. " 

Various prices of " Wehrgeld " were fixed for various 
circumstances. The murder of a nobleman costs more 
than that of an ordinary freeman, and the price of a slave 
is only something larger than that of an ox. Even the 
values of different kind of slaves are set down ; so much 
for a swineherd, and so much for a carpenter, and so much 
more for a goldsmith. Nothing could be more rude than 
all this legislation about murder in Germany. Evidently 
the legislator does not see in the fact that a man has been 
killed an act worthy of blame in itself, or immoral ; it is in 
his eyes merely a damage, a material loss, whose price he 
anxiously seeks to set according to the case and its cir- 
cumstances. This method of estimating crime is alto- 
gether primitive. It carries us back to the origin of 
human societies with the savages. But all the other 
parts of the Germanic codes are of the same moral in- 
feriority." 

Wounds and Violence. — Like murders, so wounds, injuries, 
acts of violence, are classified and taxed with a minute care, 
and, by reason of their great variety, the list of compensa- 
tions is very long. 

Injuries are taxed according to the rank of the person 
injured. Insults are treated as injuries, and taxed on the 
same principles. " Nothing is more flatly commercial than 
all this tariff, and it has evidently replaced the lex talioms, 
as the survivals of that custom distinctly attest, but it could 
not be so minutely applied save among peoples who held 
money in high esteem, and this induction fully agrees with 
the Germanic legislation relative to theft." 



1 66 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

Of Theft.-— " In the Germanic codes theft holds a con- 
siderable place. . . . This exaggerated importance assigned 
to theft is usual in the legislation of barbarians. It is 
found in the law of the Twelve Tables. Is it necessary to 
believe with Sir Henry Maine that^ this peculiarity results 
from the form of civilization where the land, the soil, has 
less value than movable wealth? Rather does it belong 
with a mental state, still inferior, which makes little account 
of human life, and much of exchangeable commodities 
with which one is able to procure a number of pleasures 
and advantages." The penalty is severe. A robber taken 
with his booty may be hung or decapitated on the spot. 
" The Germanic law, like the Twelve Tables, accord great 
importance to the fact of taking in the act of crime. If 
once the thief is given over for a time, to kill him after- 
wards becomes a punishable homicide." 

" Regarded from the commercial standpoint the insol- 
vent debtor is scarcely distinguished from a thief : he also 
is cause of damage and is treated with severity." . . . He 
may be sold for debt. . . . " Yet he does not fall, if a free- 
man, quite to the level of ordinary slaves ; the owner cannot 
sell him, unless he runs away ; he cannot strike him by 
caprice, only in one case, — refusal to work. If the slave for 
debt obstinately refuses to work, his master conducts him 
before the council (Thing) and gives his relatives a chance 
to liberate him. On their refusal he can kill or mutilate 
the rebellious slave, ' cut high or low, where he will ;' 
atrocious cruelty which closely resembles that of the Twelve 
Tables." 

Morals. — Crimes relating to " morals " are regulated by 
compensation and " amends," with alternative of revenge 
in extreme cases. Abduction, adultery, seduction and 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 1 67 

assaults on modesty are settled for at fixed prices. When 
Christianity begins to affect the Teutonic laws the penalties 
are rendered more severe. 

Crimes against the King and the Church. — At the epoch 
when their codes were collated the Germans were under a 
monarchical regime, and from this fact comes the aggra- 
vation of certain crimes touching the sovereign, and even 
a whole class of special crimes ; murders, thefts committed 
to the detriment of the king's people, either in the palace 
or court of the sovereign, acquired a particular gravity : 
their compensation rose to double or treble. Unfaithfulness 
to the king was an enormous crime, and drew down capi- 
tal punishment and confiscation of goods. . . . With the 
Lombards, when the royal power was strongly fortified, 
they went further still : bad thoughts and evil designs 
against the monarch were crimes severely punished. 

The Church, sovereign of the conscience, enjoyed privi- 
leges analogous to those of the monarch, sovereign of the 
body. If any man wishes to give his goods to the church, says 
the law of the Alemans, let no one oppose him, not even a 
duke, count, etc. 

The church has the right of asylum. It is forbidden to 
take away a man, free or slave, who seeks refuge in the 
church. The fine for crimes committed in a church are 
higher. Offenses and insults demand double and treble 
compensation when they affect an ecclesiastic. The church 
imposed the duty of Sabbath rest, and the man who 
labored on Sunday lost the ox and the right of the plough 
which it drew. 

Iribunals and Procedure of Germanic Justice. — The first 
Germanic tribunal was simply the assembly of free men of 
the clan or tribe. They came armed, and any man could 



1 68 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

bring his cause. Under the kings in England the royal 
court became the last resort for appeals. The process of 
differentiation went forward, sometimes with halting, or 
retrograde steps, to our own days. 

Penalties. — As we have seen compensation supervened 
upon direct revenge. In doubtful cases, when, for example, 
a man accused another without a witness, the accused could 
demand the trial by combat. This was an early custom, and 
became more developed in the Middle Ages. 

Mr. Green (ch. I, " Short History ") thinks that the two 
chief changes in the Teutonic government of the English 
conquerors of Britain, both brought about by war, were 
kingship and slavery. War united them, and furnished 
captives for bondsmen. 

2. Feudal Justice. — (Letourneau, " Evolution Juridique," 
ch. XVIII.) 

General Characters. — " Regarded in its entirety the jus- 
tice of the Middle Ages is fragmentary, made up of pieces 
like the political society from which it results. The law and 
the society of the Middle Ages were born of the intrusion 
of the barbarians into the decaying empire. In the Roman 
provinces the conquering Germans found a judicial organi- 
zation, centralized, provided . with functionaries, which 
their monarchs accepted with the rest, since all their efforts 
tended to copy the emperors in an awkward manner. But 
the old customs of justice were not adapted to this change. 
For a long time the kings tolerated the assembly of free 
men who judged by the mediation of designated juries. 
After the Carlovingians, when the Gallo - Frank kings 
arranged with their chiefs and instituted fiefs, the titularies of 
these fiefs, considering themselves as petty sovereigns, 
demanded and generally obtained the right of higher and 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 1 69 

lower justice. From that time was opened an era of com- 
petition between the chief suzerain, the king and his vassal 
nobles ; the. former attempting to reconquer that which he 
had ceded of his judicial prerogative ; the others defending 
their privileges. The advantage finally remained with the 
king, largely because he was the stronger, and somewhat 
because the jurists worked for him. 

But, for several centuries, the charters intervening 
between the monarch and his vassal nobles took these latter 
under their production against the caprices of the suzerain, 
on the sole condition that they acquitted themselves of the 
charges of their tenure. The good pleasure of the master 
was bridled by an agreement, freely debated, and protecting 
the vassal in a large measure. Between superior and in- 
ferior the relations, even the conflicts, regulated themselves 
with a certain dignity. The jurisdiction of the suzerain 
was accepted with reserves. In the " Assizes of Jerusalem " 
the right of appeal is formally recognized ; the plaintiff can 
refuse the counsel designated by his lord . . . The prince can 
not, without the consent of the majority of lieges, punish a 
feudal vassal either in a civil or criminal cause. 

But all this protective procedure concerns only the no- 
bility. The multitude of the humble, the serfs, are scarcely 
able to appeal to the king, and nothing effectually protects 
them from their lord. Commoners have no defence against 
the lack of faith in the barons. Finally, there is a juris- 
diction against which there is no protection. The church, 
persecuting with the rage of devotion the crimes of opinion, 
gives an example of the most iniquitous judicial oppres- 
sion. As this, so other jurisdictions perform their functions 
with extreme barbarity ; their great means of receiving 
information are the ordeal and torture ; their ordinary pro- 
cedure to decide in doubtful cases is the judicial duel — 



I/O CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

the judgment of God. In the forms of punishment survive 
savage customs inspired by the lex talionis : the judge 
simply taking the place of the offended person, but is not 
less ferocious. " This idea of revenge is persistent — even 
in modern times." 

3. English Social Treatment of Crime in the Modern 
Period, and Characteristic Changes. — " To describe the gene- 
sis of a thing — especially when it is a living thing — is 
often the best method of defining it ; it is at least very often 
the best method of beginning the search for a definition " 
(Mackenzie, Soc. Phil. p. 66). 

Interpretation of the Modern Period of Reform. — (1) The 
" spirit of humanity " is the immediate cause of all jural, 
political and administrative changes. By " spirit of human- 
ity " is meant that spiritual force whose highest manifesta- 
tion is seen in the Person of the Founder of Christianity. 
The Author of that force is present everywhere, and at all 
times, and his energy is the only adequate, and therefore 
scientific explanation of humanitarian progress. Progress 
in economic wealth, extension of commerce, mercantile 
bonds of interest and amity, improved means of commu- 
nication are auxiliaries, but not creators of this human 
spirit. Industrial and commercial advance is a phenomenon 
which itself needs to be explained by adequate causes of 
origin and reasonable ends. It cannot be historically 
shown nor philosophically proved, as some able sociologists 
seem to assert, that we require nothing but soil, climate, 
sexual appetite, and hunger for food, to explain the infinite 
energy and sublime ethical beauty of modern social ideals. 
These ideals are as much facts as vengeance and lust in 
savages. 

It is unscientific either to ignore them or to trace them 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 171 

to insufficient origins. Soil will explain much in the life 
of a plant, but it will not explain the life itself. Much that 
calls itself boastfully " science " simply begs the question of 
origin, and slips in entire continents of moral values with- 
out telling us whence they arose. The " spirit of humanity " 
manifests itself not only in increasing tenderness toward 
criminals, but also in the decrease of selfishness, cruelty 
and insensibility which are the prolific causes of crime. 

(2) In consequence of this enlargement of moral senti- 
ment there has been an extension of the field of justice and 
equity. From being the privilege of a caste or a monarch 
law has come to be the right of all. 

The criminal himself, while under the sentence, is now 
regarded as still a man, with the rights, duties and respon- 
sibilities of a man, limited only by the necessary restraints 
and penalties appropriate to his conduct, character and 
attitude to society. " It ought not to be forgotten, although 
it has been too frequently forgotten, that the delinquent is 
a member of the community, as well as any other individual, 
as well as the party injured himself ; that there is just as 
much reason for consulting his interest as that of any 
other. His welfare is proportionably the welfare of the 
community — his suffering the suffering of the community. 
It may be right that the interest of the delinquent should in 
part be sacrificed to that of the rest of the community ; but 
it never can be right that it should be totally disregarded." 
J. Bentham, I. 398. 

These improvements of sentiment and of law have left 
monuments of their onward course, and of these we men- 
tion a few typical instances. Books are very properly called 
the " works " of their authors, but they are also " works " 
of the age for which they voice the best thoughts and inspi- 
rations. The last century was marked by the beginnings 



172 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

of great social movements whose force is by no means 
spent. The abolition of the slave trade and slavery, the 
humanitarian efforts connected with the Wesleyan revivals, 
the well - meant changes in the Poor Laws, the removals of 
ancient wrongs in France through the revolution, were out- 
ward signs of the times. But the profound principles and 
convictions which characterized these movements, find 
articulate expressions in such books as Montesquieu's " Spirit 
of the Laws" (1748), Beccaria's " Crimes and Punishments" 
(1764), " Blackstone's Commentaries" (1765), Bentham's 
writings (Panopticon, 1791), Livingstone's "System of 
Penal Law" (begun in 1821). 

The conclusion of Beccaria's book marks the chief fea- 
tures of the modern spirit : " In order that every punishment 
may not be an act of violence, committed by one man or 
by many against a single individual, it ought to be above 
all things public, speedy, necessary, the least possible in the 
given circumstances, proportioned to its crime, dictated 'by the 
law." 

(3) Not only has law come to be the protection of 
more people, but it has become more exact and refined. It 
extends its definitions over more hurtful acts, and relaxes 
its penalties in the region of thought and faith. 

Legislation presses harder upon sexual vice, drunk- 
enness, liquor selling, gambling, lotteries, neglect which 
issues in damage or death, enforces the responsibility for 
corporations, themselves enlarged by modern industrial 
conditions, covers rights of property in intangible posses- 
sions, as by patent and copyright laws. " The old common 
law, originating in an age of unpolished minds, demanded 
less of fairness than is required by the superior culture and 
finer moral sentiment of modern times. And the demand 
increases as we progress in civilization. So that the com- 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 1 73 

mon law itself has expanded by slow and scarcely observed 
gradations, and a more rapid expansion has been carried 
on by legislation, which both adds to the number of crimes 
and enlarges the boundaries of the old ones. Thence it 
has resulted that crimes against the individual have been 
more multiplied by statutes than those against the com- 
munity." (Bishop.) 

The author just quoted declares that he has given the 
first distinct definition of the relation of corporations to 
crime. " A corporation, especially as viewed from the 
standpoint of the criminal law, is an artificial creation of 
the law, consisting of one or several persons endowed with 
a part of the duties and capabilities of an unincorporate 
man .... A corporation cannot, in its corporate capacity, 
commit a crime by an act in the fullest sense ultra vires and 
contrary to its nature. But within the sphere of its corpo- 
rate capacity, and to an undefined extent beyond, when- 
ever it assumes to act as a corporation, it has the same 
capabilities of criminal intent and of act — in other words, of 
crime — as an individual man sustaining to the thing like 
relations." 

But the same refinement of moral sense which demands 
new restrictions on selfish conduct also takes off burdens 
where they are useless and harmful. In 1772 was organized 
the Society for the Relief of Poor Debtors. This is a sign 
of public interest in the most innocent and helpless class 
of prisoners. Prison reform began with the amelioration 
of their condition. The censorship of the press has become 
confined to inhibition of flagrant violations of rights, of 
reputation and character. Trials for heresy may burn hot in 
ecclesiastical circles, where they serve almost to glorify the 
object of them in popular esteem, but a heretic as such can 
not be brought before a criminal court to answer for his 



174 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

words. The constitution of the United States embodied 
the principle of separation of church and state, so that 
religious thought is free from outward force. This freedom 
has become education in responsibility, and never before 
have the educational and spiritual agencies of the church 
been so active and helpful. The modern age does not 
show its indifference to religious forces by ceasing to per- 
secute. Zeal manifests itself in our day in self - sacrifice for 
truth and not in the sacrifice of others for our opinions. 

When once the offender has fallen into the hands of 
justice the forms of procedure are more just and equitable. 
Arbitrary measures are resisted. There is even manifest a 
tendency to make justice gratuitous, and so within the 
reach of all. As the judicial and legislative branches of 
government come to be independent of the executive (king) 
they are increasingly responsive to the growth of morality, 
and decreasingly subject to individual caprice of persons in 
power. The Declaration of Independence marks the trans- 
ition to modern views of the importance of equitable proce- 
dure. 

After trial comes punishment. In prison the offender 
is under the absolute control, economically and spiritually, 
of the state. The state responds to the new conceptions of 
universal human rights in its treatment of those who have 
forfeited liberty and who lie at its mercy. Capital punish- 
ment has almost disappeared. Transportation seems near 
its end. Torture is abolished, both as a means of securing 
testimony and as a part of the penalty. The element of 
primitive " revenge " is gradually fading, to be replaced by 
a rational and dispassionate purpose of righteous retribu- 
tion, accompanied by a merciful effort to reform the crim- 
inal, on the way to protect society. The very names of 
things have changed, — from " dungeon " to prison, from 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 1 75 

prison to " penitentiary," and from penitentiary to " House 
of Correction, " " Reformatory, " " Reform School, " " In- 
dustrial School " and even hospital for sick souls. 

The following dates will indicate the historic monuments 
of progress in humane and rational treatment of prisoners. 
In 1704 Pope Clement XL built at Rome the prison of St. 
Michael with its famous inscription, which so impressed the 
mind of John Howard that he quoted it in his book : "Parum 
est improbos coercere poena, nisi bonos efficias disciplina. " 
Peter the Great established what was then, at least in inten- 
tion, a humane measure, the transportation of criminals to 
Siberia. In 1773 John Howard was sheriff at Bedfordshire, 
and came in personal and practical contact with the prison 
system of the world. In 1774 jail fees were abolished in 
England, largely in consequence of Howard's disclosures 
and influence. The year of our Revolution (1776) was 
marked by the organization of the Philadelphia Society for 
Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons. In 1778 Aus- 
tralia became a convict colony, and Howard's plan for 
improving prisons was delayed. In 1786 the "Solitary 
system" was substituted for capital and corporal punishments 
in Pennsylvania. Simple imprisonment was recognized in 
France in 1786 as punishment. 

In 1 818 the Auburn ( N. Y. ) penitentiary was opened. 
1822, the English Jail Act. 1825, the New York House of 
Refuge for Juvenile Delinquents. 1854, Crofton is on the 
Board of Directors of Irish Convict Prisons. In 1889 cap- 
ital punishment was abolished in the land of Beccaria and 
Lombroso. 

In 1816 Mrs. Elizabeth Fry opened a school for women 
in Newgate. In 18 19 John Falk of Weimar organized the 
" Friends in Need." In 1833 Dr. Wichern founded the 
Rauhe Haus at Hamburg, to build up bovs bv " the Word 



I76 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

of God and music. " In 1839 the famous juvenile colony 
was established at Mettray to use agricultural labor as an 
agency of reformation. It will be noticed that uniformly 
reform ideas begin with a few progressive individuals, and 
that they become generally effective by agitation, education 
of public sentiment, and last of all by legislation. 

The history of the more serious punishments indicates 
the course of the stream of progress. 

The Death Penalty, — "The punishments inflicted for what 
we now call treason and felony, varied both before the Nor- 
man conquest and after it. At some period it was death, 
at others mutilation. Laws of Henry I. speak of some kinds 
of theft as capital. Capital punishment was the law, of the 
land " as to treason and all felonies, except petty larceny 
and mayhem, down to the year 1826," subject to exceptions 
of " benefit of clergy." 

Benefit of Clergy. (Stephen, Vol. I,) p. 459. 

" Privilege of clergy consisted originally in the right 
of the clergy to be free from the jurisdiction of lay courts." 
An ecclesiastic was tried before the bishop and the church 
court. Twelve compurgators could swear that they believed 
he spoke the truth in declaring his innocence. 

From about 1350 this privilege was extended to all who 
could read. But women (except nuns), as incapable of ordi- 
nation, were excluded from the benefit. In 1 576 purgation 
was abolished. In 1692 women were put on the same foot- 
ing as men. In 1 705 the necessity for reading was abolished. 
In 1779 branding was practically abolished. " Even after 
1487 a man who could read could commit murder once 
with no other punishment than that of having M branded 
on the brawn of his left thumb, and if he was a clerk in 
orders he could, till 1547, commit any number of murders, 
apparently without being branded more than once." 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. IJJ 

There were two forms of felony which were excluded 
from benefit of clergy at common law, highway robbery and 
willful burning of houses. " All this legislation shows that 
the early criminal law was extremely severe, that its severity 
was much increased under the Tudors (1485 to 1603) but 
that it varied little from the time of Elizabeth to the end 
of the seventeenth century." "Towards the end of the 
seventeenth century the following crimes were excluded 
from benefit of clergy, and were thus capital whether the 
offender could read or not : high treason (which had 
always been so), petty treason, piracy, murder, arson, burg- 
lary, house - breaking and putting in fear, highway robbery, 
horse stealing, stealing from the person above the value of 
a shilling, rape, and abduction with intent to marry. In 
the case of persons who could not read, all felonies, includ- 
ing manslaughter, every kind of theft above the value of 
a shilling, and all robbery, were capital crimes." "The 
severity of the criminal law was greatly increased all through 
the eighteenth century by the creation of new felonies 
without benefit of clergy. In the second edition of the 
Commentaries, published in 1769, Blackstone says that 
1 among the variety of actions which men are daily liable 
to commit no less than 160 have been declared by Act of 
Parliament to be felonies without benefit of clergy.' " 
Many of these were particular forms of felony. " However, 
after making all deductions on these grounds, there can 
be no doubt that the legislation of the eighteenth century 
in criminal matters was severe to the highest degree, and 
destitute of any sort of principle or system." Many who 
were sentenced, however, escaped by being transported to 
American, and afterward to Australian, colonies. 

" The result of all this legislation as to the punishment 
of death was in the reign of George IV., as follows : All 



I78 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

felonies except petty larceny and mayhem were theoretically 
punished with death, but clergyable felonies were never 
punished with death, nor were persons convicted of such 
felonies sentenced to death. When asked what they had 
to say why sentence should be not passed upon them, they 
fell upon their knees and prayed their clergy, upon which 
they were liable to imprisonment for not exceeding a year, 
or in some cases to whipping, or in the case of petty lar- 
ceny, or grand larceny not excluded from clergy, and in 
some other cases, to seven years transportation." 

The new English legislation seems to begin about 1827. 
Stephen, Vol. I, p. 473 seq. In that year " benefit of 
clergy " was abolished. " The act of 1827 was followed by 
several others which were intended to form the nucleus of 
a criminal code, and to replace the fragmentary and yet 
indiscriminate legislation of the eighteenth century by laws 
in which punishments were more carefully adjusted to 
offenses. Each of them retained the punishment of death 
in a considerable number of cases. 

Between 1832 and 1861 the punishment of death was 
abolished in the case of stealing cattle, letter stealing and 
sacrilege, forgery, rape and abusing children under ten ; 
robbery with violence, attempts to murder, arson of 
dwelling-house, sodomy. The only offences now punish- 
able by death are treason, murder, piracy with violence, and 
setting fire to dock-yards and arsenals. 

The manner of inflicting the death penalty is hanging ; 
in an early age it was beheading. " English people, as a 
rule, have been singularly reckless (till very lately) about 
taking life, but they have usually been averse to the inflic- 
tion of death by torture." 

Transportation. — (Stephen, Vol. I, p. 480). " The earli- 
est instance of transportation as a punishment seems to have 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 1 79 

occurred in the reign of Charles II., when pardons were 
granted to persons capitally convicted, conditionally on their 
being transported for a number of years — usually seven. 
This practice was .... greatly extended by subsequent 
legislation, and particularly by the act of 1768. . . . In the 
course of the eighteenth and the early part of the present 
century an immense number of acts were passed by which 
various terms of transportation, with alternative terms of 
imprisonment, and power, in some cases alternative and in 
others cumulative, to order whipping more or less fre- 
quently, were allotted to particular offenses." " The pun- 
ishment of transportation was gradually abolished between 
1853 an d 1864, principally on account of the objections of 
the colonies to receive the convicts sentenced to it, and 
penal servitude, or imprisonment and hard labor on public 
works, was substituted for it. 

The history of the punishment of imprison??ient. (Ste- 
phen, Vol. I, p. 483). 

"Imprisonment is as old as the Law of England." A 
statute of 1 166 A. D. (Assize of Clarendon") is mentioned. 

"The right of keeping a gaol in and for particular dis- 
tricts was a franchise which the king granted to particular 
persons." .... The gaoler was paid by fees from the 
prisoners, and, as these were generally very poor, the fees 

must be extorted by harsh measures In 1729 an 

act was passed which was intended to remedy the mischiefs. 
It was imperfect. The first great step was taken by John 
Howard, in 1773, when he was sheriff of Bedfordshire. 
His first effort was to abolish the system of paying gaolers 
by fees of prisoners, and to substitute salaries. 

(6) The Criminal restored to Society. 

The criminal, after his discharge, is more carefully 
watched over by society until he is safely on his way of 



l80 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

advance, and restored quietly to occupation and social 
confidence. 

(7) Preventive and Educational. 

Not content with humane and reasonable treatment of 
the fallen, society is earnestly attempting to prevent a fall 
on the part of those who are in constant peril. Hence all 
the modern efforts to improve and make universal the 
advantages of the free public schools, kindergartens, manual 
training and technical schools. It is believed that it is 
easier and cheaper to form than to re-form. 

The following significant events and facts will further 
illustrate the growth and spread of rational and humane 
interest in prison science and all that pertains to the Crim- 
inal Class : 

"The Congress for Criminal Anthropology should be 
sharply distinguished from the International Congress for 
prison and penitentiary systems. The former consists 
almost entirely of University professors, jurists and scien- 
tific specialists ; the latter of prison wardens and others 
who have had to do w T ith the practical side of the prevention 
or repression of crime." (A. MacDonald.) 

Ellis, p. 316, says: The International Association of 
Penal Law was founded in 1889, on the initiative of Pro- 
fessor von Liszt The conditions of membership 

involve adhesion to the following propositions: "(1) The 
mission of penal law is to combat criminality, regarded as 
a social phenomenon. (2) Penal Science and penal legis- 
lation must, therefore, take into consideration the results of 
anthropological and sociological studies. (3) Punishment 
is one of the most efficacious means which the state can use 
against criminality. It is not the only means. It must not, 
then, be isolated from other social remedies, and, especially, 
it must not lead to neglect of preventive measures. (4) 



TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL. 1 8 1 

The distinction between accidental criminals and habitual 
criminals is essential in practice as well as in theory; it 
must be the foundation of penal law. (5) As repressive 
tribunals and the penitentiary administration have the 
same end in view, and as the sentence only acquires value 
by its mode of execution, the separation, consecrated by 
our modern laws, between the court and the prison is irra- 
tional and harmful. (6) Punishment by deprivation of 
liberty justly occupying the first place in our system of 
punishment, the association gives special attention to all 
that concerns the amelioration of prisons and allied insti- 
tutions. (7) So far as short imprisonments are concerned, 
the association considers that the substitution of measures 
of equivalent efficacy is possible and desirable. (8) So far 
as long imprisonments are concerned, the association holds 
that the length of the imprisonment must depend not only 
on the material and moral gravity of the offence, but on the 
results obtained by treatment in prison. (9) So far as 
incorrigible criminals are concerned, the association holds 
that, independently of the gravity of the offence, and even 
with regard to the repetition of minor offences, the penal 
system ought before all to aim at putting these criminals 
for as long a period as possible under conditions where 
they cannot do injury. 

The International Prison Congress has held meetings 
since 1845. The British Association for the Promotion of 
Social Science was organized in 1857. The National Prison 
Congress met at Cincinnati in 187c; then was organized 
the National Prison Association. In 1877 the Society Gen- 
erate des Prison was organized at Paris. 

This review may be expanded by reading : 

F. H. Wines' article on "Prisons" in Lalor's Cyclopaedia. 
E. C. Wines' " Prisons and Child - Saving Institutions." 



1 82 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

Randall, Report of St. Petersburg Congress. Circular of Informa- 
tion, Bureau of Education, No. 2. 
Ellis, "The Criminal." Introduction and Appendix. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

SOCIAL ACTION ANTICIPATING CRIME. 

The forms in which society expresses its convictions are 
literary, customary, institutional and political. It is only 
when a conviction has become practically general that it is 
embodied in effective legislation. It is therefore necessary 
to study not only the law books, but also the statements of 
men whose experience, studies and genius entitle them to 
confidence, and secure for them the esteem due to prophets 
of what society is likely to do in the future. Bentham has 
well said : " There are two points in politics very hard to 
compass. One is to persuade legislators that they do not 
understand shoemaking better than shoemakers, the other 
is to persuade shoemakers that they do not understand 
legislating better than legislators. The latter point is par- 
ticularly difficult in our own dear country, but the other is 
the hardest of all things everywhere. " Contradictory as it 
may seem, it seems certain that increased popular knowledge 
of charity and correction will lead to increased respect for 
expert opinions. 

i. The Definitions of Jurisdiction to which the criminal 
is held responsible have been greatly extended. In primi- 
tive time the influence of the code did not touch any 
persons outside the small group, or clan or tribe. But as 
tribes became consolidated into states the range of the 



ANTICIPATING CRIME. I 83 

criminal law was enlarged in corresponding measure. 
With a primitive people murder and theft are not only not 
criminal, but may be praiseworthy if committed against 
aliens. The growth of large empires, the extension of 
commercial relations between distant peoples, the blending 
of interests, the spread of knowledge, the rise of the 
Christian doctrine of human fraternity and the Fatherhood 
of God, have had their influence on the definition of juris- 
diction. From these conditions have come treaties of 
extradition. It seems certain that the time is not distant 
when a fugitive from justice, who has wronged any citizen 
of any country, will find it impossible to escape from his 
punishment by taking asylum in foreign countries. The 
progress of steam transportation between nations makes 
such measures more and more necessary. 

Bishop (Criminal Law) states the American legal posi- 
tion. Jurisdiction of crime as between the United States 
and foreign nations : " Our territorial limits are fixed by 
usage and treaties ; outside those limits we have no gov- 
ernmental authority ; the oceans belong to no one power, 
but are the common highways of nations ; the ships upon 
them are deemed of the territory of the nation to which 
they are severally attached ; to a limited degree they are so 
also while in the harbors and internal waters of a foreign 
nation ; — some exceptions. " 

" Our Indian tribes are independent political communi- 
ties. " " The powers not delegated to United States by the 
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved 
to the States respectively, or to the people." 

The St. Petersburg International Prison Congress 
expressed this judgment : " Treaties of extradition being 
strictly dependent on the special penal legislation of the 
different countries, and these enactments at the present 



184 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

time being irreducible to a single type, it would be useless 
to attempt to introduce in an international convention the 
names of uniform criminal acts, or a definition of facts 
which cannot be identical. It would be desirable that 
special penal legislation should adopt the principle of 
extradition as a general rule, with all the reservations by 
which each state would find it necessary to restrict it. . . . 
A study should be made by a common agreement between 
criminalists of different countries in view of giving the 
same denomination and a precise definition to violations 
of penal law which would be punished by extradition." 

2. Powers of Judges. — The regulation and determination 
of the powers of judges. Laws can never fix in advance 
the exact measure of ill -desert and the amount of deter- 
rent and corrective penalty suitable for individual cases. 
Much must be left to the discretion of the judges who hear 
the entire statement of the case. And yet the danger of 
partiality and inequality of verdicts is so great, that this 
power needs to be carefully guarded and defined by legis- 
lation. It is imperative that men know, at least approxi- 
mately, the nature and extent of the penalty assigned to 
particular violations of law. 

The International Prison Congress publishes this judg- 
ment : "The maximum punishment for each offense should 
be fixed by law, and the judge should have no power to 
exceed it. The law should fix the minimum penalty for 
each offense, but the minimum can be reduced by the judge 
when he believes that the offense is accompanied by exten- 
uating circumstances which were not contemplated by the 
law. When penal law names two kinds of punishment, 
one for offenses which disgrace, and one for offenses which 
do not, the judge may, in certain cases, substitute the least 



ANTICIPATING CRIME. I 85 

severe penalty when he finds in the offense punished, in 
the abstract, no dishonorable motive." 

3. Arrest. — The law governing arrest must seek to pro- 
tect the innocent from arbitrary and unjust arrest. At the 
same time it must not obstruct the police in the detection 
and arrest of dangerous offenders. Criminals are eager 
to take advantage of legal devices to protect honest men 
from arbitrary officers of law. Corrupt judges may, in our 
cities, block the efforts of the police to clear a city of dan- 
gerous men. Approximate success is all that society can 
expect. Between these two perils lies a path of safety 
which is not very well defined. The principle of law is, 
that in slight offences executive officers must not proceed 
without warrant or indictment. But the growth of a crime 
class with organization and political influence demands a 
searching investigation of the relation of police magistrates 
to this group. 

4. Crimes Defined. — The particular acts which society 
regards as criminal are defined by common and by statute 
law. Men cannot be arrested and treated as criminal 
unless they commit some overt act which transgresses a 
definite and published regulation of society. On the 
other hand, " ignorance of the law excuses no man." 
While this principle involves individual hardship at times, 
justice could not be administered without it. The rule is 
necessary. In American law, " A crime is any wrong which 
the government deems injurious to the public at large, and 
punishes through a judicial proceeding in its own name. 
The criminal law is that department of the law of the courts 
which concerns crime. The purpose of a civil suit is to 
compel the defendant to compensate the plaintiff for what 



1 86 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

he has unjustly suffered, while that of the criminal is pun- 
ishment and the cure of a public wrong." (Bishop). The 
statements of statute and common law on this subject fill 
many volumes. We can give space here to a few principles 
as illustration of the nature and aims of this part of polit- 
ical action. To constitute a crime we must find act and 
evil intent in combination, the public good as well as ill - 
desert, an offense of sufficient magnitude, capacity for 
guilt, and a clearly defined law. 

The Several Elements of Crime. — To constitute a crime, 
act and intention must combine. "Act essential. The tri- 
bunals take notice of wrongs only when the complaining 
party is entitled to complain. And he is so entitled only 
when, besides having an interest in the transaction, he 
has suffered. Now, the state, that complains in criminal 
causes, does not suffer from the mere imaginings of men. 
To entitle it to complain, therefore, some act must have 
followed the unlawful thought." 

The public good and desert — punishment to combine. — The 
law is practical. " In morals, the rule for adultery (Matt, 
xv. 28) is that the mere imagining or designing of evil is 
equivalent to the doing," but in criminal law the act must 
be proved. 

" In determining whether or not a particular thing is or 
should be made cognizable by the criminal law, we are not 
simply to look at the morals of it, or even at its practical 
enormity, but to consider whether or not to punish the 
wrong -doer will, as a judicial rule promote, on the whole, 
the public peace and good order." 

"The reason for punishing evil-doers is often stated to 
be to deter others from crime, and so protect the commun- 
ity; as well as, when the life is not taken, to reform them." 
(Refs. Beccaria, Eden, Wayland, Paley.) 



ANTICIPATING CRIME. I 87 

"On the one hand, no man is to suffer punishment 
unless he deserves it in pure retributive justice, aside from 
all collateral considerations ; on the other hand, though it 
is merited, it will not be inflicted by the governmental 
powers, which do not assume the full corrective functions 
of the Deity, unless, presumably, it will contribute to the 
public good." 

The criminal thing to be of sufficient magnitude. — Since 
the tribunals neither take cognizance of all moral wrong 
nor punish every remote injury to the community, the evil 
of such combination of act and intent must be measured 
in two ways to determine whether it is punishable or not. 
The one is by its nature, the other is by its magnitude." 

The required evil intent. — "In no one thing does 
criminal jurisprudence differ more from civil than in the 
rule as to intent. In controversies between private parties, 
the quo animo with which a thing was done is sometimes 
important, but not always ; but crime proceeds only from a 
criminal ?nind. There can be no crime, large or small, 
without an evil mind. Punishment is the sequence of 
wickedness, without which it cannot be. And neither in 
philosophical speculation, nor in religious or moral senti- 
ment, would any people in any age allow that a man should 

be deemed guilty unless his mind was so The 

essence of an offence is the wrongful intent, without which 
it cannot exist." 

Carelessness and negligence. — " There is little distinction 
except in degree, between a will to do a wrongful thing and 
an indifference whether it is done or not. Therefore care- 
lessness is criminal, and within limits supplies the place of 
the affirmative criminal intent. "A homicide may be 
either murder or manslaughter, according as it was intended 
or careless." 



1 88 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

Necessity and Compulsion. "No action can be criminal 
if it is not possible for the man to do otherwise." Examples 
are: acts done in self-defence or in defence of the lives 
and property of others. It is not settled in law whether 
taking food to save life is larceny. The command of a 
superior, as master or parent, is not compulsion to commit 
crime. 

Under the law of capacity and freedom might be 
studied the coercion of wife by husband, the incapacity of 
children for crime, if under a certain age, insanity, intoxi- 
cation. 

Judgments of the International Prison Congress on 
ill -desert in case of intoxication. "The state of intoxica- 
tion, considered in itself, would not constitute an offense. 
It gives occasion for repression only in the case when it 
publicly manifests itself in conditions dangerous to per- 
sonal safety or by acts of a nature to produce scandal or to 
disturb peace and public order. 

The usefulness of legislative provisions can not be 
denied in establishing coercive measures, such as confine- 
ment in an asylum or a workhouse in regard to persons 
habitually given to drunkenness who would become a 
burden upon public charity or private benevolence, and 
who would give themselves up to a life of beggary or 
become dangerous to themselves and others. 

It is desirable to make the proprietors of wine and 
liquor shops penally responsible for the sale of strong 
drink to individuals manifestly under the influence of 
liquor. 

In case of penal offenses committed while in a state of 
intoxication : The state of incomplete intoxication can not 
in any case exclude responsibility. As a circumstance having 
influence on the measure of punishment, this state can not 



ANTICIPATING CRIME. I 89 

be defined bv the legislative authority either as a mitigating 

or aggravating circumstance (St. Petersburg 

Congress). 

Classification of Criminal Acts. The acts which must 
combine with the criminal intent to constitute a crime are 
described in general terms by law. 

The details are to be found in treatises on criminal law, 
as Stephen, Russell, Bishop, Blackstone and the statutes. 
All laws of the criminal code may be distributed under the 
following classes : 

(a.) Protection to the government in its existence, 
authority and functions. Here belong laws and penalties 
relating to treason, malfeasance in office, resistance of 
officers, contempt of court, perjury, bribery, (b) Protec- 
tion to the relations of the government with other govern- 
ments, as laws against violation of neutrality, injury to 
citizens of foreign countries, etc. (c) Protection to the 
public revenue. Laws relating to imports, smuggling, 
customs regulations, (d) Protection of the public health. 
(e) Protection of religion, morals; as laws relating to 
public worship, the Lord's day, blasphemy, brothels, dis- 
orderly conduct. (/) Protection of population and wealth 
of the country; as laws relating to abortion, infanticide, 
homicide, (g) Protection to the public safety and con- 
venience; as laws relating to combustible and explosive 
articles, offensive trades, dangerous buildings and side- 
walks, gambling, brothels, disorderly houses, etc. (h) Pro- 
tection to the public order and tranquillity. Here may be 
defined riot, disturbance of lawful meetings, unlawful 
assemblies. (/) Protection to individuals. Here are 
defined offences against personal preservation and com- 
fort ; acquiring and retaining propery ; personal reputa- 
tion ; offences growing out of combinations to commit 



190 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

private injuries. Here may be mentioned definitions of 
arson, assault, battery, burglary, embezzlement, trespass, 
homicide, larceny, libel, slander, mayhem, rape, threats. 
(/) Protection to the lower animals. 

Blackstone's analysis is less minute than Bishop's. 
"All division of crime is arbitrary, a mere device of the 
author to bring the subject aptly to the comprehension of 
his readers. The law itself is a seamless garment on the 
body politic." (Bishop). 

5. Children. — Modern law aims to protect the children 
against the selfishness and neglect of unfit parents. In 
primitive times the world over parental rights were absolute 
as long as they could be enforced. In our day the doctrine 
is accepted that parents are the natural and responsible 
guardians of their own offspring, but that the state, as the 
institute of rights, ought to see that the neglected child is 
not defrauded of its rights by degraded parents. 

The International Prison Congress at Rome said : " The 
Congress is of the opinion that it is for the interest of 
society that the legislature should guard against the evil 
consequences of the immoral education of children by 
parents. One of the methods recommended is to autho- 
rize the courts to declare, for a stated time, the parental 
rights forfeited when the facts sufficiently justify that course." 
" The judge should have authority to commit a young 
delinquent, who has been acquitted as having acted with- 
out discernment, to an educational institution, or to a reform 
school. The limit of detention in the institution should 
be fixed by the judge, who shall retain the right to dis- 
charge when the circumstances will warrant it. . . . The 
judge should have the authority to determine that the 
imprisonment of the young delinquent should be in an 



ANTICIPATING CRIME. I9I 

educational or reformatory institution. This detention 
should be only in a public institution." " In developing the 
paternal authority, the legislature should be inspired with 
the high idea of fully respecting the unlimited authority of 
the head of the family when exercised in a manner not 
hurtful to the children " (Rome). " Referring to the reso- 
lutions of the Congress at Rome, showing that one of the 
means advised in order to counteract the deplorable conse- 
quences of an immoral training given by parents to their 
young children, is to permit the courts to take away from 
the parents for a determined term all or part of the rights 
derived from parental power, when the facts, sufficiently 
verified, justify such a responsibility on their part, the 
Fourth Congress recognizes that the state has the right to 
Avard off the pernicious influence of parents or guardians 
upon their children or wards. The court, having proved 
the unworthiness or incapacity of the parents of a delin- 
quent child, will fix at the age of majority the term of 
tutelary education which it will assign either to the house 
of correction, or a benevolent institution, or to public or 
private charity. The initiative of measures tending to ward 
off or restrain paternal power, will belong to public author- 
ity, judicial or administrative, as well as to the institutions 
above mentioned, in which the child would be confined. 
The minor in whose favor a discharge from a penal or 
correctional institution may be granted before the end of 
the term of condemnation, or of correction, will continue 
to remain under the same guardianship until the end of 
the term, unless there be need in such case for a special 
decision of the court. The parents should be obliged to 
contribute, according to their means, to the expense of 
support and education of the children taken away by fault 
of the parents from their authority. If the circumstances 



192 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

which have caused the warding off or restraining paternal 
power are changed in such a manner that the child can be 
restored to its parents without danger to its morality, a 
new judicial decision can reinstate the parents to the enjoy- 
ment of their right to the person of the child. " — St. 
Petersburg Congress. 

6. Receivers of Stolen Goods. — The peculiar evils con- 
nected with certain kinds of business require special state 
and municipal regulations. In order to prevent the re- 
ceiving of stolen goods it is necessary : 

To enact in respect to certain dealers, such as bankers 
or money-changers, jewelers, and furniture dealers, some 
regulations to prevent the receiving of stolen goods ; to 
regard the receiving of stolen goods not as a case of com- 
plicity, but as a special offense ; to establish a progres- 
sive increase of punishment for a repetition of this offense. 
It has been recommended (1) that the police be given 
larger powers of entry and search in case of suspects ; (2) 
that pawnbrokers receive a percentage on stolen goods 
recovered ; (3) that the hours during which pawnbrokers 
may keep open shops should be restricted to daylight ; (4) 
that they should be forbidden to deal with children. 
(Tallack). 

7. Modifications of Legislation in respect to first and minor 
offences. — Imprisonment even for one night is a serious 
penalty and injury, even if the person is set free at once. 
If a short penal sentence follows for a slight offence the 
prisoner is disgraced, he is registered with thieves, he is 
affected by their conversation, and is likely to enter a 
crime career. The creation of a deep, bitter and general 
sense of injustice among the poor must also be considered 



ANTICIPATING CRIME. 1 93 

as a distinct social danger and a cause of crime. For these 
reasons it is to be seriously questioned whether legal meas- 
ures may not substitute some other treatment for arrest. 
These suggestions have been made in regard to this class 
of cases : (1) That the magistrate or police justice should 
be paid a salary, and should not receive fees, which amount 
to a temptation to arrest for an)' cause. It is said that 
when the legislature of Maryland in 1882 abolished the 
fee system at Baltimore, the number of arrests for minor 
offenses in that city, in one year, fell from 12,900 to 7,000, 
or almost one -half. (2) That arrest and imprisonment 
before actual conviction should be permitted by law only 
in those instances Avhere it can be shown that the offender 
is a dangerous person, or that the offence with which he 
is charged is of a character so heinous as to require his 
arrest and incarceration, or the placing under bonds until 
he is tried. (3) That in such cases of minor offences the 
person be released under suspended sentence, with counsel 
and reprimand from the magistrate, and his arrest hang 
over him until he has shown a disposition to keep out of 
evil ways. (4) That the police be given by their superiors 
to understand that their places depend more on the pre- 
vention of offences than on the number of poor, youthful 
and helpless persons whom they arrest. (5) That in case 
of damage to goods the offender be required to repair the 
injury in kind, or by an equivalent, as a condition of free- 
dom. Resume and Historical Sketch of the International 
Prison Congresses in C. D. Randall's Report of St. Peters- 
burg Congress, Bureau of Education. The proceedings 
of the Congress of Rome, in French, fill three volumes. 



194 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE CRIMINAL UNDER ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 

i. The Modern Doctrine of the End or Purpose of Punish- 
ment. — Three statements are made : that the object of 
punishment is retribution ; that it is protection of society ; 
and that it is the reformation of the offender. 

Retribution is a rational end of punishment. It ought 
not to be confused with malicious revenge. It is an im- 
pulse which may be absolutely free from selfish taint, and 
it is an impulse which rises in every sound nature when 
confronted with an act of moral wrong. Stephen will 
hardly be suspected of a theological bias, and he declares 
(His. Crim. Law, ch. xiv) that the purpose of punishment 
is to manifest the resentment of society against wrong- 
doers, and to protect society. He hardly notices the ele- 
ment of reformation and the well-being of the criminal 
himself. 

In N. P. A., 1890, "Penological Papers," Dr. W. T. 
Harris: " Punishment is thus seen in the purgatorial 
state of the soul to be a tribute of recognition on the part 
of the Creator — a recognition of the freedom of the will. 
Man is recognized as responsible for his acts, as owning 
his deed. Punishment by imprisonment on the part of the 
state is a high compliment to the individual criminal, for 
it assumes that the individual is free in doing his deed." 
Of course this does not apply to those who, through insan- 
ity, are irresponsible for injurious acts, and these are not 
treated in the same way. Mr. C. A. Collins states the pur- 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 1 95 

pose of punishment thus: "The object of criminal pun- 
ishment is the improvement of the offender. This is the 
fundamental principle of modern prison science, the 
supreme test of all prison methods. To those who hold the 
retributive theory of criminal punishment, and demand pain 
and suffering for the offender proportionate to the heinous- 
ness of his offense, we say, that there is no pain and suffer- 
ing more severe than that which necessarily accompanies the 
healing process. The lazy man is most severely punished 
by being compelled to work, the drunkard by being com- 
pelled to keep sober, the dissolute and unclean man by 
being compelled to live cleanly. If retributive suffering be 
the prime motive in the treatment of criminals, suffering 
enough to satisfy the most stringent demands of cold and 
merciless justice will be found in the cuttings and burnings 
of healing surgery, in the pressing and crowding of the man 
of deformed and dissolute habits into the straight jacket of 
righteous forms of living. 

To those who declare the object of criminal punishment 
to be the protection of society from the criminal, we say 
that the transformation of the criminal into a serviceable 
member of society is the only effective protection of society 
against him. The mere temporary caging of the criminal, 
as a wild beast, is a protection to society for the time being, 
it is true, but if when he is let out of his cage he is worse 
than he went in, more inhuman, more brutal, more bitterly 
disposed toward his fellows, he may be more wary and cun- 
ning thereafter, but he will be more dangerous to society 
than before he was caged." 

In connection with retribution Dr. Harris adds : " There 
is another principle than justice in the divine nature, namely, 
grace — and grace subserves and also limits justice. The 
deepest principle of Christianity requires us to make the 



I96 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

missionary spirit supreme, and to seek, under all circum- 
stances, to reform and make better all that wear the human 
form. The new penology has therefore by degrees moved 
forward to a platform higher than that of abstract justice 
which sought merely to return his deed on the doer." 

"The essential function of criminal law is to prevent 
the offence by intimidation, and this function is conditioned 
on elements exclusively social. 

The secondary function, but very important still, is 
to insure the harmlessness of the delinquent at his first 
offence, and this function is conditioned on anthropological 
data. 

In a somewhat less degree it has for its end the repar- 
ation Qf the injury which the victim has suffered. 

Finally, in the pursuit of this triple result it is necessary 

to keep in view the social sentiments of justice, of the 

resentment and pity which are manifested on the occasion 

of the crime." 

M. E. Gauckler, at third Congres d'Anthropologie Criminelie, 
Bruxelles, 1892, 

"The sentence of the law is to the moral sentiment of 
the public in relation to the offence what a seal is to hot 
wax. It converts into a permanent final judgment what 
might otherwise be a transient sentiment. This close 
alliance between criminal law and moral sentiment is in all 
ways healthy and advantageous to the community. I 
think it highly desirable that criminals should be hated, 
that the punishments inflicted upon them should be so con- 
trived as to give expression to that hatred, and to justify it 
so far as the public provision of means for expressing and 
gratifying a healthy natural sentiment can justify and 
encourage it." (Stephen.) (Cf. Butler on "Resentment") 
Cf. Pike Hist. Crime, Vol. 2, ch. xiii. 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 1 97 

2. The Modern Estimate of Obsolete Punishments. — The 

modes of punishment correspond to the social purpose. 
Presented in historical order, and admitting the fact of 
apparent exceptions, the penalties are distinctively marked 
as vengeance, social protection and reformation. 

a) Corresponding to the idea of vengeance, savage and 
barbarian, we discover in the history of all peoples multi- 
plied ingenious devices for inflicting suffering. 

I?) Corresponding to the idea of social defence we find 
the dungeon, exile, transportation ; with rigorous deterrent 
measures, as public executions, humiliations, mutilations. 

c) Corresponding to the end of reformation we have 
imprisonment with instruction, moral influence, discipline, 
prisoner's aid, with the entire system of division, classifica- 
tion, and indeterminate sentence. 

3. Outline of English and American Prison Systems. — 

The modern ideas of the social treatment of crime are 
approximately represented in the prison systems. A sketch 
of two systems, with the criticism of special students and 
practical leaders will set the facts before our minds in a 
concrete form. 

a) The English System. — 

Transportation ceased in 1867. In 1878 important 
changes were introduced. " All the local prisons of Eng- 
land and Wales were then transferred to the General 
Government." .... The number of prisons was reduced 
from 113 to 59; with improvement in administration and a 
saving of $420, 000 a year. These local prisons receive 
those convicted of offences for which the punishment is 
not over two years, w T hile those required to serve five years 
or more go to the convict prisons The discipline in 



I98 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

the local prisons and in the convict prisons is similar. 
Both are under the management of the Secretary for the 
Home Department and the Surveyor General of Prisons. . 
. . . A sentence to either prison means a sentence to 
labor, and in all the prisons work is done almost wholly 
for the Government. But the local prisons are used also as 
houses of detention for persons charged with offences 
before trial, and these persons are treated very differently 
from convicts. They do not work unless they choose, they 
wear their own clothing when it is fit to wear, and they are 
kept entirely separate from the convict inmates. 

The system of discipline of convicts has various " pro- 
gressive stages. " 

The first stage is that of cellular separate confinement 
for all convicts with rigorous conditions. " He is put in a 
cell and set at hard labor and kept in solitary confinement 
for at least one month, if his sentence lasts so long. The 
labor is apt to be the tread -wheel, and the task has been 
made uniform for all those whom the physician finds able 
to perform it. It is to ascend 8,640 feet at the rate of 52 
feet ascent per minute during a period of six hours, divided 
into two equal portions, in which he works by periods 
of fifteen minutes' labor and five minutes' rest. Mean- 
while the new convict's diet is exceedingly light .... for 
one week. After that he gets a second class diet for a week 
which is a slight improvement on the first, and later the 
third, then the fourth class." His bed, which is at first 
a plank, gradually improves. Other privileges are intro- 
duced as rewards of good behavior, or are removed and the 
severity repeated if prison rules are broken. 

" A sentence to penal servitude in a convict prison, 
which must be five years or more, involves different 
treatment. The convict is at once taken to the convict 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 1 99 

prison at which he will serve the greater part of his 
term." 

He is first taken to a local prison — a prison provided 
for the purpose — to serve nine months of his term in soli- 
tary confinement. Some kind of work is provided for him, 
and he leaves his cell only for a little open - air exercise and 
to attend chapel. Nothing that the convict can do will 
shorten his nine months' period of discipline. It is intended 
to give him a chance to think over the situation and decide 
on his future conduct. At the end of nine months he is 
removed to one of the convict prisons, and, if his behavior 
has been good, put to work with other convicts. 

"The convict has now passed the first and severest 
stage of his punishment. In the meantime he has been 
on probation, and a careful record of his conduct accompa- 
nies him to his new home. The probation period contin- 
ues three months longer, during which he works with other 
convicts. If he behaves well and works well all the time, 
he is then eligible to the graded service. There are three 
grades, of which he enters the lowest. He must stay in 
that grade a year, unless degraded for misconduct, when, if 
his marks are perfect, he may be promoted to the second, 
and after another year to the first. Each of these grades 
gives slightly increasing privileges, and industry and good 
behavior throughout his term entitle him to a remission of 
nearly one -fourth of his term of imprisonment. It also 
entitles him to a gratuity of $15 on his discharge. If his rec- 
ord has been especially good he may gain a gratuity of $30." 

Women prisoners are granted still larger privileges if 
they give hope of amendment; and the "star class" of 
men, composed of those who have never been convicted of 
crime before, though passed through the same severe disci- 
pline, are kept separate from hardened offenders. 



200 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

The third stage of this progressive treatment is condi- 
tional release. Those who have gained good marks may- 
go abroad under the watchcare of the police. They must 
report each month, give notice of change of place, not be 
found in company of thieves, and show a purpose to be 
industrious and law-abiding. 

Moral and educational agencies, together with counsel 
of chaplains, are supplied in all stages of discipline. 

After discharge, in the case of most prisons, a society for 
the aid of discharged prisoners befriends them, seeks employ- 
ment for them, and encourages them in all possible ways. 

Du Cane believes "this system is to be commended, 
because it appeals to hope more than to fear, diminishes 
the resort to more drastic forms of punishment, as flogging 
and reduction of diet, and absolutely diminishes the num- 
ber of convicts through its deterrent influence. . . . 

Reformatory and industrial schools for juvenile offend- 
ers form a part of the system. . . . To the reforma- 
tories may be committed offenders under sixteen years of 
age. . . . To the industrial schools are sent youths 
under fourteen who have not been convicted of crime, 
. . . found begging or receiving alms or wandering 
without settled abode or visible means of subsistence, or 
frequenting the company of .thieves, or living with prosti- 
tutes. . . . The expense of both reformatories and 
industrial schools is paid partly by the government, partly 
by the parents of children committed, partly by school 
boards, and partly by private subscription. Both are under 
the supervision of an inspector appointed by the home sec- 
retary." 

In the English prisons it is sought to give a barely ele- 
mentary education to those who are illiterate, but no elabo- 
rate system of higher instruction is provided. 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 201 

Labor in English prisons. — The labor performed by 
prisoners is done directly for the government. They 
" build fortifications, manufacture supplies for the post- 
office, the army, the navy, the metropolitan police, for the 
prisons themselves, and for other government uses." 
They till farms. It is not attempted to make the prisons 
self-supporting. The cost, above the meager earnings for 
the government, is borne by the tax - payers. The indus- 
tries are not generally conducted in the best way to teach 
the convicts useful trades. Those who work on farms earn 
little and cost much to guard, as there are constant efforts 
to escape. Sir E. F. Du Cane argues from the physical 
defects of many prisoners, "the absence of the ordinary 
stimulus which operates on men in a state of freedom, and 
the inconvenience and prejudice against government trad- 
ing," that it is undesirable to attempt to make prisons self- 
sustaining. 

The learning of trades is made a reward for industry 
and good conduct. 

" The (subordinate) officers enter the service in the lowest 
positions, having passed the examination of the Civil 
Service commission and an examination into their ante- 
cedents by prison officials, which is very searching. . . . 
They are promoted strictly according to merit, and are not 
in danger of removal unless they deserve it. The 

men adapted to the work spend their lives in it, and the 
service is rewarded by a pension." . . . The governors 
of the prisons are appointed on different principles, often 
being old army officers. This results frequently in the 
appointment of men without the proper experience. 

Summary of Principles — General Du Cane sums up the 
principles of the system over which he has been a controlling 
influence: "(i) That a well-devised system of second- 



202 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

ary punishment should provide for subjecting those sen- 
tenced to it to a uniform course of penal deterrent discip- 
line. ( 2 ) That every means possible should be adopted 
for developing and working on the higher feelings of the 
prisoners, directly by moral, religious, and secular instruc- 
tion, and indirectly by ensuring industry, good conduct, and 
discipline, through appealing to the hope of advantage or 
reward, as well as by fear of punishment. ( 3 ) That, with 
a view to deterrence as well as reformation, it is desirable 
that every short sentence and the first part of every 
long sentence should be undergone on the separate 
system. (4) That before discharging the long-sen- 
tenced convict to a full or modified degree of liberty, he 
should be subjected to further training, in which he should 
be associated, under supervision, while at labor, but separ- 
ated at all other times. ( 5 ) That properly constructed 
prison buildings, providing among other things for this 
separation, are all-important requisites for the success of the 
system. (6) That employment should be provided and 
industry enforced or encouraged for all. ( 7 ) That care 
should be taken to select and train a good staff of skilled 
and responsible officials to supervise and carry on the work 
of the convict establishments, and means adopted to prevent 
their work being hindered or defeated by the prisoners being 
brought into close contact on works or otherwise with free 
men who were under no such responsibilities. ( 8 ) That 
those who on discharge are disposed to follow honest courses 
should be guided and assisted in their endeavors, and that a 
careful watch should be kept over all till they have re-estab- 
lished their character." 

Since this system was adopted the population of Eng- 
land and Wales increased from 19,257,184 to 26,213,629, 
from 1853 to 1884 ; while the number of sentences of penal 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 203 

servitude decreased from 2589 to 1428. Whether all this 
decrease was due to the system must be considered in another 
place, but it has unquestionably been effective in the right 
direction. 

References : Du Cane, " Punishment and Prevention of Crime." 

Tallack, " Penological and Preventive Principles." 

J. S. Butler in " Papers in Penology." 

Howard, " State of Prisons," ( for last century. ) 

b ) The System of Prisons in the United States — There is 
no general system in the nation. Each commonwealth has 
its own method. Generally there are as many local methods 
as there are county sheriffs. Uniformity is absent. Errors 
and abuses disgrace our country, while here and there intel- 
ligent and heroic efforts to remove evils and introduce 
improvements do us honor and encourage hope. 

Police-— Dr. A. G. Byers ( N. C. C., 1889) : Urges that 
the police should be more a preventive than a detective 
agency. " But this force, under mistaken ideas of its duty, 
is actually, in most, if not all, our larger communities, in 
connivance with wrong-doing. We would avoid indiscrim- 
inate reflection ; yet the fact remains, that there is scarcely 
a city in the United States where the saloon, the gambling 
hell and the brothel, each and all in contravention of law 
and ordinances, do not carry forward their demoralizing 
and destructive work under the immediate observation and 
intimate personal knowledge of the police, while at the 
same time the honest but hilarious newsboy or bootblack, 
in giving vent to boyish propensities, is rudely dragged 
through the public thoroughfares, hustled into the dark and 
dirty station house, forced into association with the idle and 
vicious, arraigned, tried, and convicted in the police court, 
where he is made a spectacle of disgrace in the eyes of those 
who study law and derive their ideas of public justice from 



204 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

such proceedings. If it were possible to eliminate partisan 
politics from police organizations, an important step would 
be taken toward a reform that must precede any well-regu- 
lated prison system for the state. 

" Adopting the preventive idea, it is certainly practicable 
to employ sober, industrious, conscientious men on life 
tenure, liberal salary, and retiring pension, to charge them 
with the duty of preventing the violation of law and order, 
and to hold them fairly responsible for misdemeanors and 
crimes within their precincts." 

The chief impediments to efficient police service are : 
(i) The appointment of policemen for "political" reasons, 
nominally by Mayor or Board, but really by a local alder- 
man. (2) The system of paying magistrates with fees 
instead of salary. The magistrate is paid for the papers 
and trial of a prostitute whom he dismisses without a fine 
or a small one which is really a tax, and a tax which goes 
to his private purse and not to the public. The policeman 
is discouraged from making arrests because he sees it does 
no good, or he makes arrests in order to divide the spoils 
with the magistrate. (3) Policemen are burdened with 
matters which should be attended to by Health and Truant 
officers. All these matters should be under the control of 
the police department, with enough special officers to do 
each special kind of work. (4) Interference by the Mayor 
and other officials to protect their political friends from 
arrest. (5) The vices of licentiousness and gambling are hind- 
ering and corrupting influences. Prostitutes and gamblers, 
with the aid of bribes and political influences, often secure 
license to pursue their degrading ways. (See N. P. A., 1891, 
p. 107.) 

The intelligent and benevolent public may aid the 
police and encourage them both through legal and volun- 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 205 

tary action. Rewards and prizes might be offered to stimu- 
late preventive work — as in service in protecting children, 
dumb animals and the public health and morality. In 
England " watch committees," appointed by municipalities, 
and independent of the police force, have been thought 
efficient in keeping policemen up to their best work. 
Various societies have been formed to provide refreshment, 
recreation, wholesome reading and religious privileges for 
men on the force. Honor, hope and sympathy are far 
more efficient agencies in securing the highest service than 
fear of discharge. Society should both require and honor 
soldierly service in the defenders of its safety in time of 
peace as well as in time of war. As the temptations of 
policemen are peculiarly strong, society is bound to 
diminish these perils as far as possible, and also to offer all 
the counteracting influences and motives in its power. 
J. P. Altgeld, "Our Penal System and its Victims." 

Tallack, " Penological and Preventive Principles." N. P. A. 1888, 
p. 22. 

The Police Station is an important part of the system. 
It is used for a temporary place of detention for juvenile 
offenders, for hardened criminals, for persons arrested as 
suspects, in all organized towns and cities. Too often it is 
in a bad sanitary condition, dirty, dark and foul with ver- 
min and disease. Around its cells swarm the curious crowd 
and the associates of the depraved. Separation of classes 
is frequently neglected and persons of entirely different 
moral condition are permitted to communicate. There is 
no centralized method of supervision, and therefore no 
uniformity of management. Until recently women matrons 
were not provided, and scandalous occurrences have not 
been infrequent. It goes without saying, that women 
matrons ought to be appointed for every lock-up. 



200 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

The County Jail. — This remains the most disgraceful 
and dangerous part of our prison system. While there are 
local jails which provide for a degree of separation of pris- 
oners, there is no uniformity and no system of state super- 
vision in most of the states. Jails are used for the detention 
of witnesses, of persons of all grades awaiting trial, and for 
places of punishment by confinement on the judgment of 
lower courts. Seldom is any kind of work provided. The 
halls are occupied by drunkards, vagrants, hardened offend- 
ers, often young lads, who pass the time of waiting in hand- 
ling greasy cards, reading what may chance to come, and 
in gossip such as may be imagined would prevail in such 
company. The cells are separate unless there is a crowd, 
but the separation does not prevent easy communication. 
Absolute separation is demanded by every interest of 
decency, humanity and justice. The jail is frequently 
called the high school of crime. It is one of the institu- 
tions supported at public expense for the propagation of 
depravity. A large part of the increase of crime in this 
country may be charged to this irrational institution. 

District Workhouses. — On this much needed element of 
a prison system Mr. A. G. Byers said: "The next step 
must include a workhouse for misdemeanants and those 
convicted of minor offences. Properly constructed and well 
arranged workhouses are necessarily expensive, so that com- 
paratively few municipalities can afford to erect and main- 
tain them. They should be erected and maintained within 
certain districts of a state, according to population, and 
should be under the control of the state. Labor should be 
imposed, proper industries introduced, and cumulative sen- 
tences provided for, so that ultimately the misdemeanant, 
always an annoyance and frequently a great and growing 
burden to society, should be restrained of personal liberty 






ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 207 

and compelled to self -maintenance." The National Prison 
Association of 1870, on motion of Mr. Sanborn of Massa- 
chusetts, passed the following resolution : "Resolved, That 
the district prisons described in the paper of Mr. Byers, 
intermediate between the state prison and the county jail, 
are a necessary part of a complete prison system, and, in 
the opinion of this Congress, such district prisons ought to 
be established in all states where they do not now exist." 

Reform Schools or Industrial Homes. — These institutions 
illustrate the value of the principle of classification of 
offenders. Boys and girls of the age of sixteen are placed 
under the care of the managers of these schools up to the 
time of their majority upon conviction under the criminal 
code. In some states the youth may by good behavior be 
released, on condition that they report to the county agent 
and the superintendent of the school at intervals. This is 
the Michigan method. It is essential that during this 
period the young offenders learn some useful trade and 
that the officers see that they have employment before they 
are sent out. Under the head of Preventive Work we may 
study other methods of caring for juveniles. 

N. C. C. 1890, p. 214. Industries in Juvenile Reform Schools. 

The State Reformatory Prison. A selected class of 
offenders may be sent to an institution based on the idea 
of reformation. Such persons must not be chronic 
criminals. The most conspicuous example of this 
grade of prisons in the United States is the famous Elmira 
Reformatory, under the care of Mr. Z. R. Brockway. In 
giving the essential characteristics of this reformatory, we 
give the essential features of the new school of prison 
managers. To describe it in detail would take more room 
than we can spare, but the references will guide to more 
exhaustive sources. 



208 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

Elrnira Reformatory. The prison system of New York 
is based on the " Fassett Bill" of 1889. The main pro- 
visions of that legislation are embodied in the regulations 
for the prisons. In describing Elmira Reformatory the 
principles of the statute are brought to light. 

To Elmira are committed first offenders of sixteen to 
thirty years of age. The management of the institution is 
entrusted by law to a board of managers and a superintend- 
ent. The board review the business affairs and decide on 
cases of conditional liberation. The superintendent has 
power to control, to appoint and discharge officers. Within 
the prison there is a careful system of responsibility and 
division of labor. Prisoners are examined by the superin- 
tendent soon after their arrival, to know their character 
and to decide upon the best mode of treatment. Facts of 
heredity and personal conduct and character are carefully 
set down in registers, together with information furnished 
by the court. 

Prisoners are divided into three grades. Each prison- 
er at first enters the intermediate grade, and may fall by 
misconduct into the actual criminal grade or rise by " good 
marks " to the first rank. The marks are based on 
demeanor, labor and school progress. 

The discharge of the prisoner is not made final until 
after six months of conditional liberation on parole, during 
which period he must report monthly. 

The diet of the reformatory is hearty. Those in the 
lowest grade are deprived of tea and coffee. Those in the 
first grade have special luxuries beyond the second. Mem- 
bers of the three grades are also distinguished by their cloth- 
ing ; by the manner of taking their food, — whether at 
table or in cells ; by the size and furniture of the cells ; by 
various privileges in respect to letters and books. In work 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 209 

shops and school the members of all grades mingle on 
equal terms, and there proficiency alone is honored. 

The school at Elmira is an essential feature of discipline. 
Not only elementary subjects are taught, but also history, 
literature, geography, political economy, higher mathe- 
matics, physiology, practical ethics, and the elements of 
various trades and technical processes. Each student is 
treated as an individual, and his culture, physical and 
spiritual, is taken up at the point at which he left off. A 
good library of well selected volumes and many magazines 
and papers is supplied. 

The theory of the institution is based on the purpose of 
reform of the prisoner. If he is physically diseased, feeble 
or inert, the best known hygienic and medical measures 
are applied to build up energy and health. Important 
experiments have been tried with massage, baths, gymnastic 
exercises and military drill. 

The sentence is limited between a minimum and a 
maximum, with a measure of discretion of the judge. The 
shortening of the term depends upon the prisoner himself. 
The statute recognizes the principle that the prisoner should 
receive a part of the product of his labor for his own sake 
and for his family. 

On both sides of the Atlantic this method has been vig- 
orously attacked. It is claimed by many that it offers a 
premium to crime, because the condition of the prisoner 
is made more comfortable than that of ordinary laboring 
people, and that this is unjust to those who must toil for 
his support. In reply to this the authorities claim that 
their method is not lax and luxurious, but that the clean- 
liness, steady habit of labor, and constant occupation are 
precisely the things which such persons dread ; that the 
soul cannot be cured of its crime unless the body is sound 



210 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

and vigorous, and the hands trained for useful industry. 
It is also claimed by critics of the Elmira plan that their 
reports of success in " reformation " cannot be verified 
until the Bertillon system of identification and registration 
has become a part of the state and national methods of 
dealing with the crime class. 

The financial plans of the Reformatory have been broken 
up several times by the public opposition, on the part of 
business men and trades' unions, to competition with prison 
labor. At Elmira, under New York laws, the product of 
any one kind must not exceed five per cent, of the whole 
product in the state. This has worked to advantage in one 
direction, since it has compelled the introduction of many 
trades and so opened a wider field for technical instruc- 
tion. 

On the New York System and Elmira, see H. D. Wey, " The Elmira 
Reformatory of To - Day." Papers in Penology, Second Series. 
Alexander Winter, " The Elmira Reformatory." " Physical Train- 
ing of Youthful Criminals," H. D. Wey, N. P. A. 1888. N. C. C. 
1891, p. 202. On Prison Discipline, N. C. C, 1890, p. 279. On 
Prison Management, N. C. C, 1889, p. 50. 

Reformatory for Women. — Reformatory institutions for 
girls should be absolutely separated in place and manage- 
ment from prisons for women. Industries adapted to 
women should be introduced. . The management should be 
in the hands of women. Classification is vital. Discharged 
prisoners cannot be safely released without watch-care for a 
certain time. If hardened prostitutes were treated under 
laws of cumulative sentences their ranks might soon be 
diminished and their social influence broken. The present 
policy of short terms for openly disorderly conduct is inef- 
ficient and vicious. After all preventive work for girls, and 
care of demoralized families is most necessary and hopeful. 
N. C. C, 1879, pp. 189-200: ibid, 1878, pp. 79, ill. 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 211 

The State Prison or Penitentiary is designed for those 
criminals for whom there is less hope of reformation, 
although prison science is slow to confess that there are 
any absolutely " incorrigible." The principles of disci- 
pline in long term institutions are given below. 

A State Central Prison Authority is needed in every 
State in order to secure uniformity and efficiency; to 
prevent local abuses; to bring faults into the light of 
publicity; and to transfer prisoners from one institution 
to another according to their nature and needs. It is 
believed that such an authority should be judicial in 
its functions and powers, and not a branch of the execu- 
tive department of state or of the administrative force of 
prisons. 

Consensus of 'Judgments on Prison Management. — Deten- 
tion of the accused before trial and of witnesses. " It is 
desirable that special prisons be established for preventive 
detention as far as it is possible ; otherwise that a special 
part of the institution be designated for the imprisonment 
of the accused. 

Individual separation should be adopted as a general 
rule for preventive detention, and be replaced by imprison- 
ment in common during the day upon the expressed desire 
to that effect by the prisoner, if judicial or administrative 
power authorizes it. 

Individual separation should also be applied to minors 
when they are in a state of detention ; it will only be 
ordered in case of absolute necessity, and it is desirable in 
principle that minors under seventeen years of age should 
enjoy liberty until authority decides definitely upon their 
condition. 

Individual separation should be replaced by imprison- 
ment in common for prisoners who cannot endure close 



212 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

confinement because of their health, on account of their 
advanced age, or physical or mental condition. 

The prisoners should be treated on the basis of the 
common law. Preventive detention should only involve 
restrictions required to accomplish its purpose, and the 
desire to maintain order in the prison. 

Local administration can be made available in respect 
to prisoners only by such measure of discipline as is pro- 
vided for by regulations and restrictions necessary to 
maintain order and tranquillity. 

The supervision of societies of patronage organized for 
discharged criminals should also extend to persons after 
acquittal." 

Education of Prison Officers. — " The Congress is of 
opinion that the teaching of penitentiary and criminal 
science is very useful and much to be desired, and that the 
scientific study of the application of punishments can easily 
be reconciled with the requirements of penal discipline. 

It expresses the view that a chair of penal science should 
be established in the universities of different countries, and 
that the penal administration should create necessary facili- 
ties to sustain and encourage that study. 

The establishment of libraries of penal science in prisons 
and for the use of officers of these institutions is desirable." 
(St. Petersburg Congress.) 

" It is of the highest importance for the interests of 
prison work to insure well the recruitment of officers, 
employes and agents of the prison service. 

With regard to the manner of pursuing that course it is 
necessary to distinguish between the higher and lower 
offices. 

It is important in the first place to determine the condi- 
tions of admission to these positions. The following 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 21 3 

should be delegated by preference : To higher offices 
persons in possession of the general information which the 
offices require ; to lower offices, as far as possible, old 
soldiers who have finished their obligatory service. [This 
last a Continental view.] 

The preparation of candidates for the highest offices will 
include — ( a ) Certain courses of study and of the theory 
of penal science ; ( b ) and the practical study of every 
detail of prison work, directed by the chiefs of model 
prisons ; the course finished, the candidates in question 
will be registered on the lists presented to the administra- 
tion qualified to make the appointments. 

The preparatory instruction for candidates to the lower 
offices will include, above all, practical penal work which 
will correspond, for example, with the instruction of guar- 
dian schools operating in certain countries, this service being 
directed by experienced prison superintendents in the same 
places in the department in which the candidate will enter 
upon his duties. 

It is essential to guaranty the officials' emoluments and 
advantages corresponding to the importance of the work, 
so honorable and so difficult, which they are carrying on 
for the good of society. An extreme parsimony could only 
be detrimental in every respect." 

Punishments, Cellular, Progressive, Etc. — "In the inflic- 
tion of penalties intended at the time to punish the guilty, 
to place him beyond the possibility of wrong doing, and to 
give him means to reinstate himself, and the punishments 
of long duration permitting more than others the hope of 
the reformation of the condemned ; the organization of 
these punishments should be inspired by the principles of 
reform, which regulate punishments of short duration. 



214 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

Every convict condemned to punishment of long dura- 
tion should be placed at first in a cell for a certain time. 

After the time in a cell, day and night, has expired, 
when the condemned can be admitted to work in common 
during the day, he should continue to be confined in the 
cell during the night. 

The administration should organize work, as far as 
possible, in the open air and in preference public work, 
but on the indispensable condition that this work will be 
established in such a manner that the prisoners will never 
come in contact with the free population. 

Conditional liberation will be awarded only with every 
possible discretion and in following a gradation agreeing 
with the reform of the prisoner." 

Patronages should be established, either by private initi- 
ative or by the administration, to protect the condemned 
during the time of their conditional liberation and to watch 
over them after their definite discharge while they do not 
seem completely reformed. 

" The progressive system, which begins with cellular 
confinement with labor, corresponds to the nature of punish- 
ments of medium duration.'" St. Petersburg, Randal, p. 177. 

"Incorrigibles," at least the most difficult cases; con- 
firmed recidivists. 

" Without admitting that in a penal and penitentiary 
point of view there may be criminals or delinquents abso- 
lutely incorrigible, experience shows that in fact there are 
certain individuals who prove themselves insensible to this 
reformatory influence, and w r ho return, by force of habit as 
well as by profession, to the violation of the laws of society. 
The congress expresses the opinion that especial measures 
should be taken against such individuals. 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 21 5 

In this order of thought, without directing attention to 
the principles of different legislatures, and reserving the 
liberty to choose the means corresponding best to particular 
conditions of each state, the following measures are recom- 
mended for study in different countries : 

a) Imprisonment, for a sufficient time, in institutions or 
work - houses where compulsory labor is required, is appli- 
cable to certain individuals, as beggars, inveterate vaga- 
bonds, etc. 

b) Prolonged imprisonment or, according to the case, 
transportation to certain territories or possessions belong- 
ing to interested countries, in order to utilize lost forces ; 
but always with guaranties that should insure support for 
those who are deprived of their liberty and a possibility of 
regaining entire liberty by good conduct, especially ac- 
cording to the system of conditional liberation. 

These measures should not be prejudicial to placing in 
special institutions of assistance persons adjudged incapable 
of providing for themselves materially by their work." 

The suggestion of transportation is by no means univer- 
sally approved. 

The St. Petersburg Congress does not admit the exist- 
ence of this class of incorrigibles. 

The proposition is sometimes made that, in the last 
resort, the instinctive and incurable criminal should be put 
to death " like a mad dog." It is true that a criminal is 
like a mad dog, in that both endanger human life, but they 
differ in this that the criminal is a man and the mad dog is 
a dog ! 

Mr. Z. R. Brockway (Randall's Report, p. 124) gives 
the social reason for declining to kill the hardest cases of 
criminals : " To incapacitate by destroying them would 
certainly afford protection as against their further crimes, 



2l6 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

and, once accomplished, would relieve society from any 
further cost for their maintenance ; but, possibly, the evil 
effect of life-taking for incorrigibility might prove worse 
than to permit them to live and pursue their criminal call- 
ing. There is much reason to believe that a frequent 
infliction of the death penalty for crimes has a debasing 
effect upon society at large. ... It may be said that the 
state of public sentiment which, insensible or indifferent to 
the cruelty of it, destroys the life of incorrigible criminals, 
would also put to death the incurably insane and remediless 
defectives of every kind, indicating thus a state of barbar- 
ism favorable to crimes, the primes and the criminals in 
turn actually contributing to the public sentiment that pro- 
duces them." 

Motives of Reforwiation. (St. Petersburg, Randall, p. 
175 — 6). "A system of reward and encouragement, material 
and moral, for the prisoners, fixed by regulation at the 
discretion of the administration, is efficient in the interest 
of good discipline as well as reform of prisoners. 

The measures indicated should be a reward for assiduity 
in work, and of good conduct, as far as may be without 
prejudice to the serious character and purpose of punish- 
ment. 4 

It is proper to give the • greatest scope to all lawful 
means of encouragement and reward, such as hope of 
shortening sentence, authority to buy books, to send aid to 
their families, etc. 

In the way of material encouragement, the authoriza- 
tion of better food is admissible, which, without assuming 
the character of luxury, appears beneficial in a hygienic 
view. 

The prisoner can be authorized to make use, for his 
material and moral needs, of a share of his earnings in a 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 21 7 

measure limited by general regulations, and at the discre- 
tion of the director of the institution in each special case. 

The part of the competence reserved should be 
entrusted, at the time of the liberation of the prisoner, to the 
authorities of societies of patronage, who would charge 
themselves with making payments to the prisoner by instal- 
ments in proportion to his needs. 

Disposition by the prisoner of his patrimony outside of 
his competence can be allowed as a means of satisfying his 
wants in prison only by the authorization of the director." 

Labor in Prisons. Relative to the correction and refor- 
mation of the prisoner, and the benefit of his family ; and 
relative of prison products to free industries. 

"Labor, useful and. productive as possible, being necessary 
for prisoners, to whatever penal regime they may be sub- 
mitted, it is in each country proper to examine how, 
according to the situation, it can be practically furnished 
and directed in order to answer the rules and different 
necessities of penal work, whether by the system of labor 
for the State or by the contract system. 

Labor being the important part of penal life should 
remain subject in its organization and its functions to pub- 
lic authority, which alone has the capacity of securing the 
execution of penal laws. It could not then abandon them 
to the promotion of private interests. 

In a general manner, but without imposing absolute 
rules, the system of state labor seems to best facilitate the 
subordination of work, as of every other part of penal 
regime, to the end it designs to accomplish. But, on 
account of the difficulties that the organization of public 
labor presents, it can be seen that the administration may 
resort to contracts or private industries, provided that the 
utilization of manual labor does not constitute the domi- 



2l8 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

nation of a contractor over the person and life of the 
prisoner. 

In the organization of prison labor, and especially in 
that of labor for the state, it is desirable that the advan- 
tages of prison manual labor be reserved to the state, and 
the view is expressed that the state be consequently, as far 
as possible, at the same time, producer and consumer of 
objects manufactured by prison manual labor. 

Manual labor should be utilized, as far as possible, and 
without doing injury to the necessities of penal work, for 
the wants of the prisoner and for the use of the prison. 

The advantages likely to result from this manual labor 
should be reserved, as far as possible, to the state, and not 
contribute to the gains of the management of private 
enterprises. 

The arrangement of the effective forces of each industry 
in a determined place, the choice of the variety and com- 
pensation of these industries, the disposition of salaries 
and schedules of work, should be so combined as not to 
allow protection, privileges, or abusive forces to be consti- 
tuted, capable of depressing corresponding free industries. 

Public authority should always preserve, in some man- 
ner of organization of work, whatever it may be, the means 
of warding off every abusive, competition which arises, 
without reducing the prisoners to idleness and without 
abandoning them to the management or the power of con- 
tractors and certain industries." 

Mr. C. D. Wright, U. S. Commissioner of Labor, 1885, 
(summarized in papers in Penology, 2d Series, p. 109,) has 
given the following survey of the present conditions of this 
question : 

" There are four distinct convict labor systems in this 
country : 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 2ig 

(i) The contract system, under which a contractor 
employs convicts at a certain agreed price per day for their 
labor, the prisoners working under the immediate direction 
of the contractor or his agents. Under this system the 
institution usually furnishes to the contractor the power 
necessary and even the machinery for carrying on the work. 
(2) The piece-price system, which is simply a modification 
of the contract system. Under this system the contractor 
furnishes to the prison the materials in a proper shape for 
working, and receives from the prison the manufactured 
articles at an agreed piece-price, the supervision of the 
work being wholly in the hands of the prison officials. (3) 
The public account system, under which the institution 
carries on the business of manufacturing like a private 
individual or firm, buying raw materials and converting 
them into manufactured articles, which are sold in the best 
available market. (4) The lease system, under which the 
institution leases the convicts to a contractor for a specified 
sum and for a fixed period, the lessees usually undertaking 
to clothe, feed, care for and maintain proper discipline 
among the prisoners while they perform such labor as 
may have been determined by the terms of the lease." 

" The negative and positive results of the applications 
of these four systems under varying degrees and kinds of 
circumstances were thus summarized in the bureau report : 

The contract system is the most prevalent in the United 
States at the present time. It has the special advantage of 
being remunerative to the state, and as a rule to the con- 
tractor. The convicts are kept constantly employed and the 
state incurs no business risk. The objection is that the con- 
tractors undersell the manufacturers employing free labor, 
and where a prison having a large number of convicts is 
devoted to a particular industry its products tend to drive 



220 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

out of the market the products of free labor in that partic- 
ular line of manufacture. This was notably the case in 
Chicago, where the cooperage business was very greatly 
reduced in proportions, the great packing houses taking 
their barrels from the Illinois state prison. 

The piece-price system, as the bureau sets forth, is simply 
a modification of the contract system, the contractor having 
nothing to do with the convicts. It has all the disadvan- 
tages of the contract system from the standpoint of the 
manufacturer who uses free labor, its sole advantage over 
the contract system lying in the fact that the convicts, being 
under the full control of the prison officials, may be sub- 
jected to reformatory influences. 

The public account system, the bureau says, is the ideal 
system of prison reformers, workingmen, manufacturers and 
legislators, as a rule : whatever profit is made in labor and 
sales goes to the state. It offers the best opportunities for 
reformatory effort. But its pecuniary success depends 
upon the employment of power machinery ; and as the state 
pays nothing whatever for the labor, it will be seen that the 
system affects the price of goods in the market more con- 
siderably than any other, and the disadvantage is that 
prisoners must be laid off in dull times, thus making con- 
stant employment out of the question. It is also a scandal- 
breeder. 

The lease system is the most abominable of all, although 
the state gets a fixed sum for the convicts and is relieved of 
all responsibility. The objections to it, as stated by Gov. 
Gordon, of Georgia, are included in the bureau's report, 
viz : 

It places pecuniary interests in conflict with humanity. 
It makes possible the infliction of greater punishment than 
the law and courts have imposed. 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 221 

It renders impracticable the proper care by the state 
of the health of its prisoners, or their requisite separation 
according to classes, sexes and conditions. 

It reduces to the minimum the chances for reformation. 
It places convict labor in many instances in direct com- 
petition with the honest labor of the state. 

The report then takes up eleven leading propositions for 
solving the problem and forms a separate estimate of the 
value of each. These are discussed in this order : 

i. The entire abolition of Convict Labor. This is dis- 
missed at once. Experiment has shown that where con- 
victs were not employed, insanity increased at a frightful 
rate. The expense of maintenance would be enormous. 

2. The establishment of a Penal Colony by the Federal 
Government. The bureau says it is not reasonable to sup- 
pose that the separate states of the union will take the 
course necessary for its adoption, and the states as individ- 
uals cannot adopt any such plan, because of the small pro- 
portion of the prison population of each state. Moreover, 
says the bureau, the moral sentiment of the nation will 
never permit the herding of criminals in any section of the 
land, whether in Alaska, or on any of the islands within the 
jurisdiction of the United States, for the establishment of a 
penal colony would entail upon a single community all the 
evil results now seen to accrue from hereditary taint. 

3. The employment of Convicts on Public Works and Ways. 
By this means manufacturers would be relieved of compe- 
tition, but there would be competition in labor. It merely 
removes the actual competition from one realm to another. 
The expense of transportation, maintenance, temporary 
stockades and guards would be enormous. The chain-gang 
is a necessity under the plan, and " the demoralizing effects 
upon communities from witnessing large bodies of crimi- 



222 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

nals at work openly are objections which the moral instincts 
of communities clearly recognize." The burden of compe- 
tition is shifted from skilled to unskilled labor. There is 
no economy in the plan. It would cost the state a great 
deal more to do constructive work with convict than with 
free labor. 

4. The employment of convicts in manufacturing goods for 
the government. The radical objection to this proposition 
is that the entire annual expense of the government for 
furniture, clothing, mail bags, harnesses, wagons, infantry, 
cavalry and artillery equipments, clothing for the Indian 
service, etc., is only about $4,000,000 ; whereas the total 
product of the prison labor of the country amounts to 
about $30,000,000. 

5. The exportation of the products of convict labor. An ex- 
amination of the statistics of exportation shows that only a 
small proportion of prison manufactures would be sold in 
this way. 

6. The prohibition of the sale of convict - made goods out- 
side of the state in which manufactured. This would be 
destructive to business in a state like New York, for exam- 
ple, where the prison products amount to about $7,000,000. 
It would also be impossible to trace the goods. It would 
be unconstitutional, as interfering with commerce between 
the states. 

7. Convict -made goods to be stamped " prison- made." 
This would lead to an immediate boycott. 

8. The payment of wages to convicts. This suggestion 
has found earnest advocates, but it leads to deficiency in 
the revenue. The bureau thinks, however, it is worthy 
serious consideration and study. 

9. The reduction of the hours of labor in prisons. 
This would be a remedy only in a very partial sense. 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 223 

10. The substitution of industries not now carried on in 
this country. The chief importations consist of fine goods, 
whereas it is a necessity that convicts be employed upon 
coarse grades of goods. " A glance at the list of articles 
imported into this country," says the bureau, "is sufficient 
to satisfy one of the impracticability of this plan." 

ii. The utilization of convicts upon farms. Gov. Gordon 
has recommended this plan. The bureau, however, declines 
to entertain it, believing that the opposition to convict 
farm labor would be greater in time than that which now 
exists against the employment of convicts in mechanical 
pursuits. 

Cf. N. P. A. 1888, p. 50 : ibid, 1891, p. 202. 

Special Topics. — There are questions in which the public 
can interest themselves only in a limited degree, and which 
divide even specialists of experience ; " Prison architecture 
and sanitation ; the prison staff ; mode of appointment of 
officers ; tenure of office ; prison dietaries ; labor in prisons ; 
prison schools, including the question of normal schools 
for training prison employes in their duties ; religious in- 
struction in prisons ; prison libraries ; the correspondence 
of prisoners ; visits to prisoners by their friends and by 
other persons ; the rights of convicts in prisons ; the 
privileges which it is expedient to grant them, and espe- 
cially the effect of allowing them a percentage of their earn- 
ings; the dress of prisoners; disciplinary punishments in 
prison ; prison registers, and the use of photography as an 
aid to the identification of escaped prisoners, or of recidi- 
vists ; prison statistics ; the proper treatment of rich prison- 
ers and of convicts who are or who become insane; the 
duration of imprisonment, as it is affected by life sentences, 
by cumulative sentences, by "good -time" laws, and by 



224 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

executive interference ; the effect of transition from a state 
of imprisonment to a state of freedom upon the prisoner 
himself, and the necessity for continued care of him subse- 
quent to his discharge, with especial reference to securing 
him honest employment." (F. H. Wines in Lalor's 
Cyclopedia.) 

\y 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

PREVENTIVE MEASURES AGAINST CRIME. 

Identification and Registration, (a) The object of identi- 
fication is manifold. It is deterrent, because it hinders the 
free movement of offenders and makes them feel that detec- 
tion and condemnation are more certain. It enables 
prison authorities to measure the relative success of various 
methods. It promotes the efficiency of the executive 
departments and instructs the judiciary in the application 
of the principle of commutative sentences. It is essential 
to the safe use of the parole and indeterminate sentence 
systems. No innocent person is injured by it, since the 
record is not employed except in case of repetition of 
crime, (b) The method of identification. The more skillful 
and permanent officers of law can remember a few of the 
most notorious offenders, but this is unreliable and local in 
value. Photography is an important addition to the re- 
sources of detectives. But all the best elements have been 
continued in the system called after its inventor the Bertillon 
method. Its essential features are two photographs, front 
and side views of the face ; measurements of the length of 
certain bones of the body ; noting deep scars and other 
permanent marks ; classification and registration on such a 



PREVENTIVE MEASURES AGAINST CRIME. 22 5 

plan that a well furnished police office can identify a re- 
cidivist in a few minutes. To become most complete and 
valuable it should be adopted by the general government 
in cooperation with state and municipal police forces. 

A. Bertillon : " Identification Anthropometique," 1893, Paris. Forum. 
May, 1891. N. P. A., 1891, p. 64. 

2. Patronage or Discharged Prisoners' Aid. — The situa- 
tion of the discharged prisoner without means and friends 
is pitiable and dangerous. The powerful pen of Victor 
Hugo has represented the desperate state of a convict at 
large in the sombre picture of Jean Valjean. In all civil- 
ized countries efforts are made, more or less efficient, to see 
that the discharged prisoner is met at the door with a 
friendly care, offered temporary shelter, occupation and 
assistance to secure permanent employment. In the absence 
of such help he may find every door closed against him 
except the saloon, the brothel and the rendezvous of thieves 
and crime capitalists. It seems a social wrong of greatest 
magnitude to set a man at liberty without some assurance 
that he has at least an opportunity of earning a living by 
honest industry. It is at this point that voluntary cooper- 
ation with state functionaries is of the highest value, and 
here private philanthropy can be sure to do good with the 
least mixture of harm. The spontaneous and unofficial 
interest of religious and humane persons has some import- 
ant advantages over official aid by persons identified with 
the punitive agency of the state. But such societies must, 
to be useful, sincerely cooperate with prison officials. 

The Prison Congress expresses the opinion : " That 
societies of patronage should be established wherever they 
do not now exist, and that relations between societies of 
patronage or societies of benevolence in different countries 



226 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

should be established in the general interest of works of 
patronage, and also in order to bring aid in the most 
efficient manner to persons needing patronage. 

That to this end conventions should be established 
between different societies which should have for their aim : 
( a ) To issue a regular and reciprocal exchange of exper- 
ience, (b) To set forth the principle that patronage 
should extend to foreigners ; regarding always the police 
regulations of each country, (c) To insure the return 
home of discharged prisoners, if they so desire, or to secure 
them work in another place. 

That in view of their return home, special supervision 
should be taken of their earnings, their clothing, and dis- 
charge papers, and their free passage. 

In the aim of facilitating the establishment of an insti- 
tution of international patronage, it is desired that societies 
of patronage which exist in all countries should be united 
in creating a central national organ. " ( St Petersburg 
Congress. ) 

" It is recommended that societies of patronage should 
have the opportunity to become interested in the situation 
of the families of prisoners before they have recovered their 
liberty, (a) In order to secure, as much as possible, the 
maintenance of family affections, (b) In order to aid 
especially the family of the prisoner if his detention has 
caused serious detriment to minors, the old, or the infirm. 
To attain this end the societies of patronage should mention 
it expressly in their statutes, and place themselves in con- 
nection with every local authority, administrative or reli- 
gious." 

It is recommended, also, that the society of patronage 
should seek cooperation with the police. But the police 
should not follow up those who are under responsible charge 



PREVENTIVE MEASURES AGAINST CRIME. 227 

of the societies in a way to expose them, intimidate them 
and interfere with their reformation. ( St Petersburg Con- 
ress. ) 

3. Substitutes for Arrest and Imprisonment. — The end 

sought is avoidance of the loss of self-respect, hope and 
social reputation, which necessarily accompanies imprison- 
ment. 

It is proposed that the police should be instructed and 
trained for warning those who are in the way of becoming 
liable to arrest ; that judges should exercise a certain dis- 
cretion with young and ignorant offenders ; instructing, 
reprimanding and releasing under suspended sentence when 
it seems to be in the interest of public justice and welfare ; 
such power to be carefully bounded by law ; that fines with- 
out imprisonment and requirement to restore goods or 
repair damages take the place of incarceration. Such dis- 
cretion is, as a matter of fact, already frequently used with 
advantage, and it is proposed to extend the power by care- 
ful legislation. 

Cf. Morrison, Tallack and Rylands, works cited. 

J. F. Altgeld, " Our Penal Machinery and its Victims." 

Waugh, " Gaol Cradle." 

4. Juvenile Delinquents. — Most criminals, as shown by 
statistics of prisons, begin their crime career very young 
and come from demoralized domestic conditions. The 
state seldom notices the child until he has placed himself 
within the range of criminal law. Experience has abun- 
dantly proved the folly and injury of this neglect. An 
early change of environment, in the case of most children 
of vicious parents, is all that is needed to turn them from 
a certain career of crime to a hopeful path of industry and 
happiness. The most enlightened spirits are turning their 



228 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

attention, therefore, most hopefully to the subject of pre- 
ventive work for neglected children who swarm in our cities. 
The success of Charles L. Brace in New York is remarkable 
and encouraging, and the diminution of crime in England 
during recent years seems largely due to the vigor and effi- 
ciency of their system of caring for abandoned and pervert- 
ed children. Similar efforts on the Continent during the 
century have met similar success. 

C. L. Brace, " Dangerous Classes." 

Dugdale, " The Jukes." Reform School Work, N. C. C. 1892, p. 166, 

seq. 
H. Folks, " The Child and the Family." N. C. C. 1892 ( explaining 

the Pennsylvania system of boarding out delinquent children ). 

The Prison Congress expresses the desire to see general- 
ized, in their different forms of application, the work for 
children morally abandoned, and measures of protection 
and of education for unfortunate childhood. 

" In accordance with experience, it would be necessary 
to continue the system of placing in families with that of 
placing in institutions, the two systems considered sepa- 
rately presenting advantages and disadvantages. 

Everywhere it is expedient to conduct the work of the 
institutions to remove them as far as possible from systems 
termed " congregate/' and to, organize them after the prin- 
ciple of family education — that is to say, after the cottage 
system. 

The placing in families can be permitted, especially in 
the following cases : 

a) For the youngest children, especially girls not mor- 
ally compromised and of a healthy constitution. 

b) For children morally neglected or guilty, after a suffi- 
cient lapse of time, when they will have been improved or 
corrected in an institution. 



PREVENTIVE MEASURES AGAINST CRIME. 229 

c) For children whose correctional education is finished 
and who are still under patronage. 

For the interest of education in families it is recom- 
mended that free organizations of education or societies of 
patronage or competent committees established by public 
authority should make it their study : (a) to make a 
judicious choice of the family in which they can intrust 
the children ; (b) to direct these families ; (c) to super- 
vise their education ; (d) to regulate supervision after 
established principles. It would be desirable that on one 
side the heads of houses of education, and on the other 
side the committees of family education of each district, 
should establish between themselves a cordial understanding, 
in order to be able to exchange proteges and to combine 
thus two kinds of education after the individual needs of 
the latter." 

5. Checks upon Hereditary Supply. — But the education of 
vicious children must be followed by the attempt to cut off 
the hereditary supply of such children. If society is to take 
care of the anti-social element it has a right to use reason- 
able measures to cut off that element or to reduce its mag- 
nitude as far as possible. 

No adequate measure has yet been proposed, and 
probably no one means will ever be found sufficient. The 
extension of the term of imprisonment until it becomes 
a life sentence for recidivists of the most confirmed type 
would help to reduce the supply of morally deformed off- 
spring. 

Marriage laws, prohibiting the issue of licenses to per- 
sons of unfit character, can hardly be supposed to help 
much, as sexual laws are seldom influential with this class of 
people. 



230 CRIME AND ITS SOCIAL TREATMENT. 

The same thing is true of education. While in the cir- 
cles of the most intelligent and moral, the insane, the con- 
sumptive and the syphilitic continue to marry and propagate 
diseased children what can be expected of the crime class ? 
And yet, while the educational process is slow it seems the 
only method which will finally avail. Cf. Part IV., 
"Domestic." 

6. Immigration Laws. — Our country has the right to pro- 
tect itself against the unfriendly and injurious act of other 
peoples who make our country their penal colony. If 
Australia's plea against England was valid ours must be, 
that to transport criminals is a nation's crime against 
another nation. Cf. Part I., ch. vi. 

7. The Education of the Public in Prison Science. — At 

many points the ignorance or prejudice of the public inter- 
feres with prison discipline. No system of reformatory 
labor, for example, can be successfully conducted in face of 
boycott and adverse legislation in obedience to a popular 
demand. Nor can rational means be used to help dis- 
charged prisoners unless the community understand the 
differences among criminals and the necessity for lending 
a helping hand. The voluntary visitation of prisoners, 
under regulations, is of high value, but requires both 
interest and intelligence on the part of religious people. 

" In order to interest the public in penal and preventive 
questions, it is desirable, 

That ministers of different religions should cooperate in 
this work by devoting a Sunday in addressing their congre- 
gations in regard to prisoners. 

That the support of the press should be given to the 
solution of these questions. 



PREVENTIVE MEASURES AGAINST CRIME. 23 1 

That competent men should organize conferences and 
publish special articles upon the questions of public interest 
mentioned. 

That members of every social class should join patron- 
age or prison aid societies. " (St. Petersburg Congress.) 



PART IV. — SOCIAL HYGIENE AND 
THERAPEUTICS. 



" Les crimes sont les maladies du corps social. Comme les mala- 
dies physiques du corps humaine, elles varient dans leur intensite, 
dans leur nature, dans leur caractere, dans le plus ou moins de danger 
qui en resulte, dans le plus ou moins d' espoir qu' elles laissent." — 
Moreau-Christophe. 

The " social body " is the most complex organism known 
to us. Its diseases affect a vast network of organs, tissues, 
bodies, souls, lands, houses, institutions, laws, sentiments. 
Having regarded dependents, defectives and delinquents as 
extra-social or anti-social beings we ought now to study 
them from a new point of view, as organic members of the 
great social body. 

No one but a social quack will offer a panacea for all 
the ills to which the social organism is heir. It is precisely 
here that the sociological method is seen to be superior to 
all others and adapted to displace charlatanism with a com- 
plete, systematic and harmonious method which will assign 
its true place and value to each rational agency of public 
welfare. 

It is proper to deny that sociology, as art or science, has 
as yet given to its material a perfect analysis and arrange- 
ment. But it is not proper to assert that its teachings are 
merely theoretical guesswork. The recommendations in 
these pages come from men who are familiar with the costly 
social experiments of the past and who have subjected them 
to the test of present experience in dealing with the 

232 



SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 233 

unfortunate and the lawless. This experience of thous- 
ands of years must be worth something, and certainly it 
has cost much. History has left us problems to solve, but 
it has also supplied us many data for the solution. A 
systematic arrangement of such certified conclusions may 
be regarded, so far as it is true to the facts, a scientific 
work. 

In the social body the individual may be compared to a 
molecule or a cell in the physical body, or to a member of 
the body. Both figures are imperfect. An individual 
human being is movable, while a cell or a member cannot 
change place in the body. A person is conscious, intelli- 
gent and free, — if a normal person, — and so can make a 
contract. A person may belong to many organs of the 
social body : in industry a mechanic ; in domestic life a 
father and husband ; in art' life a singer ; in church a 
deacon ; in politics a partisan and office holder. If a man 
is anti-social he carries his defect into all the organs of 
society of which he forms a part ; and, on the other hand, 
the defects in social functions affect him. 

To give an orderly and systematic treatment of social 
reforms for any class we must, therefore, consider the path- 
ological states of each organ and institution and the appro- 
priate remedies. As the science and art of medicine are 
based on a knowledge of anatomy and physiology, structure 
and functions, of the body, so social remedies must be 
based on a consideration of the normal structure and 
functions of society. The restoration of a dependent 
pauper or an anti-social criminal is a restoration to his 
place in relation to all the social organs, and to do this all 
social agencies must be set in motion. 

But society is a " moving equilibrium:" it develops. 
The extra-social members must be taught and disciplined 



234 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

to adjust themselves to this fact of progress or its wheels 
will crush them. 

The concluding chapters of this book have for their aim 
an exposition in outline of this method of dealing with social 
remedies. Nothing more than a sketch can be offered, 
with a few illustrations under each head. At the same time 
the sign posts of reference will point the way to the houses 
of interpreters where all the wisdom and knowledge thus 
far gained may be found. 

It is desirable that every citizen should have a fair 
knowledge of the entire field, and should be taught to see 
the place and relative importance of each effort to promote 
the common health and welfare. But there will be room 
still for specialists, and even for hobby-riders. While every 
citizen should seek intellectually to survey the whole field 
as from a tower, when actual work is undertaken it must be 
limited to special forms of activity. Time, strength and 
means are soon exhausted, and only a little surplus of each 
is left, after the individual wants are satisfied and family 
life provided for, to bestow upon general social interests. 
But for the most humble and obscure philanthropist there 
is inspiration and direction in the study of the general 
movement of modern times, and in being conscious that 
the section of the army which he leads is an organic part 
of a great organic whole. 

Ref. J. Bascom, " Sociology." 

Mackenzie, " Social Philosophy." 

R. T. Ely, " Social Aspects of Christianity." 

F. Wayland, " Moral Science." 

E. G. Robinson, " Principles and Practice of Morality." 

D. J. Hill, " The Social Influence of Christianity." 

Literature on Social Hygiene and Therapeutics. 

W. S. Jevons, " Methods of Social Reforms." 



SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 235 

Schulze, " Gaevernitz, Zum Socialen Frieden." 
Wood's, " English Social Movements." 
Martineau, " History of the Peace." 
McCarthy, " A History of Our Own Times." 
Toynbee, " Industrial Revolution." 
Rogers, " Six Centuries of Work and Wages." 

H. C. Adams, " An Interpretation of the Social Movements of Our 
Time," {Journal of Ethics, Oct. 1891). 

Fiction. — Mr. Charles Zeublin, Ph.B., has suggested the 
following list of Social and Economic Fiction : More, 
"Utopia;" Bacon, "New Atlantis;'' Lytton, "The Com- 
ing Race ;" Dickens, " A Tale of Two Cities ;" Eliot, 
"Middlemarch;" Reade, "Put Yourself in His Place;" 
Martineau, " Hands and Machinery, Illustrations of Politi- 
cal Economy ;" Kingsley's, " Two Years After," " Alton 
Locke ;" Besant, " Children of Gibeon," and " All Sorts 
and Conditions of Men ;" Mac Donald, " There and Back ;" 
Wood's, "Metzerot, Shoemaker;" W. A. Jones, "The Middle- 
man;" W.Morris, "News from Nowhere:" Mrs. Stowe, "Uncle 
Tom's Cabin;" Bellamy, "Looking Backward;" Mark 
Twain, " Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur." 

French : Balzac, " Cesar Birotteau," " Pere Goriot," 
"Eugenie Grandet;" Hugo, " Les Miserables ;" Ohnet, 
" Le Maitre de Forges ;" Zola, " L'Argent " (Money). 

German : Immermann, " Die Epigonen ;" Freitag, "Soil 
und Haben " (Debit and Credit); Spielhagen, " Problema- 
tische Naturen," " Hammer and Amboss," " Was Will Das 
Werden ;" Sudermann, " Frau Sorge," " Die Ehre." 

Norwegian : Ibsen, " Brand," " Pillars of Society," 
" League of Youth." 

Russian : Turgenieff, " Fathers and Sons," " Virgin 
Soil," "The New Generation," "Smoke;" Tolstoi, "Anna 
Karenina." 

Polish: Sienkrewicz, " With Fire and Sword." , ^. 






236 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

POPULATION AND TERRITORY. 

The basis of social life is the people and the land they 
occupy. 

1. Social being and well - being depend first of all on adap- 
tation of population to territory. There must be sufficient 
land for the people, and it must be of a certain quality in 
order to sustain a society. There must be a proper dis- 
tribution of the population over the territory. There must 
be free access of the population to the land. 

2. Symptoms of pathological conditions are over crowding 
of the territory as a whole ; congestion in cities and deser- 
tion of farming lands ; artificial hindrances to free use of 
available lands, as by laws, customs, and defects in modes 
of taxation. Weigh these facts : 28 of our largest cities in- 
creased 44.86 per cent, in 10 years, while the same number 
of English cities increased 11.2 per cent. Our urban 
population grew from 12.5 per cent, in 1850 to 27.7 per 
cent, in 1890. In ten years an increase of 60.5 per cent, 
in urban population of 10,000 and over. Yet there is much 
waste land even in New England and New York. 

3. Remedial. — A general and diffused knowledge of 
the conditions of healthy social life as taught in biology, 
economics, and politics. Biological science determines the 
physical necessities of family well - being ; economical 
science discloses the actual arrangements of population 



POPULATION AND TERRITORY. 237 

with reference to the territory and points out the elements 
of improvement ; political science cooperates with individual 
and associated enterprise to amend the conditions accord- 
ing to the principles of biology and economics. In carry- 
ing out improvements the technical sciences, as of engineer- 
ing and agriculture, are auxiliary. It is obviously impossible 
to introduce within our limits the bulky material of these 
subjects ; it is enough to indicate their importance in rela- 
tion to the cause and cure of the pauper and delinquent 
elements. 

Social agencies for adjustment of population to ter- 
ritory. Illustrations of this movement may be seen in 
the colonization plans of European countries, the societies 
which aid emigrants, the effort of Canada to encourage im- 
migration, the state agencies in the hilly regions of New 
England to sell abandoned farms and homesteads, the 
efforts of Children's Aid Societies to remove neglected 
children to the country, the circulars of information from 
the South and West, inviting attention of capitalists and 
mechanics to the opportunities presented in the sparsely 
settled regions, the reports of the U. S. Bureau, the ad- 
vertisements of railroad lands, etc. 

References. Marshall's Principles of Economics. Ch. II and fol. 
J. S. Mill, Political Economy. 

Henry George, in " Progress and Poverty," and elsewhere has 
pointed out many of the evils under this head. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

ECONOMICAL. 

i. Economical conditions of social health. — The material 
necessities of life are food, clothing and shelter. A certain 



238 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

minimum of these is essential to existence, and a higher 
average minimum is necessary to health, to progress. 
Without a surplus above bare necessity, the domestic and 
spiritual life cannot develop. If there is no progress there 
will be danger even to life. Non - progressive peoples are 
in the way to extinction. 

Latent in all men are aesthetic, intellectual, social and 
religious needs and cravings. To gratify these* aspirations 
wealth is required. 

The essential and general conditions of the exchange 
and production of means of life and culture are discussed 
in political economy. The special modes of obtaining 
these ends are treated in technical science and art, and are 
practically learned by serving apprenticeship in the pro- 
ductive callings of society. 

The appropriate state agencies for promoting these ends 
are discussed in political science. But the state agency for 
production of wealth is late and restricted. Most produc- 
tive enterprise is carried on without any interference or 
help from government. 

The normal production and equitable distribution of the 
means of life and well - being depend upon the diffused 
intelligence, the acquired technical skill and the appropriate 
habits and morals of the people. This law must lie at the 
foundation of all reforms. Wealth cannot be directly 
given to people without ultimately impoverishing them. 
It is only what they earn which helps them. Philanthropy 
must increase the wealth of the people, the physical basis 
of their welfare and progress, by increasing their intelli- 
gence, skill and morality. Even political agencies, subject 
to the popular will, are helpful only as they are the ex- 
pression of popular wisdom and virtue. Taking " Educa- 
tion" in this broad meaning, we may accept Mr. Ward's 



ECONOMICAL. 239 

declaration that all progress waits upon popular educa- 
tion. 

2. Pathological Economic States. — " Give me neither pov- 
erty nor riches." Extreme poverty and luxury are prolific 
sources of physical and moral decay. It is among the pro- 
letariat and the idle rich that the most dangerous vices 
arise. The demoralized family is the first product of unna- 
tural and unjust economic conditions. When the home is 
defiled the streams of custom, morals and sentiments which 
issue thence are polluted. The rate of prostitution in Lon- 
don rises and falls with the price of bread. (Schafrle.) 

It is not extreme poverty alone which degrades family 

life and arouses social and political strife ; it is even more 

a belief that economical and political arrangements are 

inequitable. The demand for a fair share of the increasing 

wealth and advantages of modern improvements is socially 

justifiable and encouraging, since only by the diffusion of 

material advantages, can knowledge, taste and refinement 

increase. 

Schaffle, "Bau und Leben/' Bnd 1. 
Marshall, " Economics," pp. 2, 590, 594-95. 

3. Remedies — Utopian, Experimental and Practical. — 

Socialism is a hypothesis "in the air." Thus far it is 
hardly a "working hypothesis." But it cannot be ignored 
and its essential propositions are by no means absurd. 
The advocates of state- socialism claim that the end of all 
social evils would be greatly hastened by constructing 
society on a new basis. 

(1) Socialism defined. The socialistic state would be 
one in which all the instruments of production are owned 
and controlled by the government. Socialism does not 
propose to hinder the freedom to use commodities accord- 



240 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

ing to individual choice, except so far as such use would 
interfere with the equal rights of others. 

Socialism does not propose to prevent the saving and 
accumulation of private property. Here socialism is 
opposed to communism which would abolish private 
property. 

Socialism does not, necessarily, interfere with the right 
of inheritance of family property. 

Socialism might provide for means of savings and insur- 
rance, but could not offer interest -bearing bonds. 

Socialism would not, of necessity, prevent gifts of phi- 
lanthropy for social welfare, or for church work. 

Examples of socialistic methods already applied are : 
State ownership of railroads, mines, etc.; municipal owner- 
ship of water works, street car lines, electric and gas light- 
ing, etc. 

Socialism is sometimes called " Nationalism" a political 
rather than economic term. " Collectivism " is the eco- 
nomic term. 

(2) The probable effects of socialism on dependency 
and crime. We never can know the result of socialistic 
methods until they have been tried. But judging from 
the local experiments of small communities and from known 
laws of human nature and society it seems probable : 

That no great change could be made in respect to 
those unfit for social life, as the infirm, the aged, the 
insane, the anti - social defectives. These are already 
cared for by the state. Improvement in their treatment 
is made with the progress of social knowledge and senti- 
ment. 

In respect to the lazy pauper, socialism could not im- 
prove his condition without persuading, inducing or com- 
pelling him to work. 



ECONOMICAL. 24 1 

It does not appear that a socialistic state would be 
superior to the present method in dealing with the pauper- 
ism which grows out of the vices of drunkenness and licen- 
tiousness. 

It seems impossible to foresee how the friendly relations 
between the strong and the weak would be affected by the 
proposed changes in modes of production. 

The unemployed. " Here socialism, to the degree in 
which it is practicable, would effect a complete remedy. 
The unemployed class would be eliminated from the ranks 
of pauperism. Certainly the line of poverty would be 
raised. The only question at this point would be whether 
this result was gained at too great a cost to society." (Pro- 
fessor Tucker in And. Rev.) 

Bellamy, " Looking Backward." 
Dawson, "Bismarck and State Socialism." 
Rae, "Contemporary Socialism." 
" The Fabian Essays." 
Webb, " Socialism in England. " 
Laveleye, " The Socialism of To-day." 
Schaffle, " The Quintessence of Socialism." 
Gunton, "Wealth and Progress." 
Paulsen, " Die Ethik." 

For special study, the writings of Marx, Lasalle, Proudhon should be 
consulted. 

The probable effect of socialism on crime. — Under 
Socialism the temptation to theft would be greatly reduced, 
but not entirely removed. There would be household 
property, though not capitalistic property. Every man 
would be obliged to work or starve, and he would be given 
work to do. Socialism would not remove the sources of 
crime which begin in abnormal sexual impulses or in 
tendencies to intoxication, although it might reduce the 
temptations from these causes. The crimes which arise 



242 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

from resentment would not be much affected by the 
arrangements of a socialistic state. Cooperation would be 
compulsory and not voluntary. But the arrangements 
between laborers and employers can hardly be called 
" voluntary " in any strict sense of the word even now. 
Legally, contracts are free ; economically, the poor and 
unskilled laborer is not free. Even in trades-unions there 
is very imperfect approach to conditions where a really 
free bargain is possible. Unorganized laborers have no 
real industrial freedom ; they are compelled to accept what 
is offered, and discussion is not permissible when a con- 
tract for labor is made. 

We can only guess what Socialism might effect. Society 
does not like to experiment very far with guesses. For 
this reason we call the propositions of pure Socialism 
" Utopian." If it is ever to come it will grow, and no 
violent attempts to introduce it can succeed. Revolutionary 
methods would inevitably produce reaction. Socialism is 
a subject for study, not a scheme for immediate action. 
At the same time many of the measures advocated by able 
Socialists are being accepted and employed in all modern 
countries. 

Nationalization of land. — Mr. Henry George's plan of 
practically confiscating private property in land must be 
classed, along with pure Socialism, as Utopian. While 
almost every American is trying to buy a home, and while 
millions own land, a movement in this direction can hardly 
be practicable. And yet the discussion in its favor is 
resulting in important modifications of abuses in the law 
relating to the ownership and transfer of land. 

Experimental government insurance is still in the con- 
dition of hypothesis. 

In England several schemes have been proposed, but 



ECONOMICAL. 243 

no legislation has been reached. In Germany an elaborate 
plan has been adopted, but the experiment is too young to 
furnish reliable data. 

It is evident that the chief sources of anxiety to wage 
earners are the helplessness of indigent old age, the care 
of dependent members of the family after death, the main- 
tenance of the family in cases of sickness, accidents and 
enforced idleness from want of employment. 

If provision can be made for these needs without 
depressing manhood and independence of spirit ; and if 
sources of enjoyment now requiring wealth are opened to 
all by associated effort, then life would be comfortable to 
millions who now are anxious or even desperate. 

As experiments on the living body of society are costly 
and perilous, and involve a kind of vivisection, our age is 
inclined to move cautiously, and to test the bridge before 
trusting everything to its structure. 

Old age pensions. All modern Christian states have 
adopted the general principle that all helpless indigent per- 
sons, in old age, are to be supported at public cost. They 
are sometimes relieved in the poor house, sometimes in 
families through out-door agencies. The doctrine on which 
such legislation rests was thus stated by the German 
Emperor, November 22, 1888: "I do not indulge the 
hope that the distress and misery of mankind can be 
banished from the world by legislation, but I regard it as 
the duty of the state to endeavor to ameliorate existing 
economic evils to the extent of its power, and by means of 
organic institutions to recognize, as a duty of the common- 
wealth, the active charity which springs from the soil of 
Christianity." 

In Germany, under Bismarck's leadership, a system of 
insurance for workingmen provides for indigence caused 



244 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

by sickness, accident or old age. The fund is raised by a 
tax laid upon the workman, the employer and on the 
empire, at large. No provision is made for the unemployed, 
the lowest class of the " proletariat." See Dawson's 
" Bismarck and State Socialism." 

In Austria the principle has long been adopted that 
dependent old age is entitled to be supported by the young 
and strong. The Emperor Joseph II " decided that at 
sixty a man should have the right to claim from his native 
town or commune a pension equal to one-third of the aver- 
age daily wage he had received during his working years. 
This pension was to be regarded in exactly the same light 
as a soldier's pension — not as a charity, but as the reward 
for past services. This is still the guiding principle of the 
Austrian Poor Law." (Review of Reviews, March, '93, 
p. 208). 

In England various plans of pensions for old age have 
been proposed : a universal compulsory pension scheme, 
the fund collected by the state from all the poor (Blackley) ; 
a voluntary assessment scheme (Chamberlain) ; an old age 
endowment scheme (Booth). But Parliament has as yet 
acted upon none of these schemes, and looks to the Poor 
Law alone for care of old age. See Rev. of Revs., 1892, 
p. 271. Con. Rev., March, '92. Quar. Journal of Econo- 
mics, July, '92. 

"General" Booth's Salvation Army Scheme. In this vast 
dream of help, economical, moral, philanthropic, and relig- 
ious elements are blended and mixed. It does not look 
for direct political aid, but relies on individual g^fts of the 
rich for its funds. Its management depends on the execu- 
tives of the Salvation Army. Its characteristic elements are : 

(1) food and shelter for every man in the city, with work; 

(2) employment bureau to secure work for the unemployed ; 



ECONOMICAL. 245 

(3) the Household Salvage Brigade, to collect and utilize 
waste scraps of food, clothing, books, etc.; (4) the transfer 
of the unemployed to farms; (5) rescue work, — "Slum 
Sisters," traveling hospitals, prison gate brigade, watch -care 
of drunkards, open - door houses for penitent fallen women, 
preventive work for young girls inquiry, office for lost peo- 
ple, industrial schools, asylums for moral lunatics ; (6) 
assistance in general; — improved lodgings, model subur- 
ban villages, the poor man's bank, the poor man's lawyer, 
cooperative schemes for purchase or production, matri- 
monial bureau. 

All these elements have been tried by various organiza- 
tions as well as by the Salvation Army. The permanence 
of the work depends on the cohesive power of a compara- 
tively new and limited organization. The scheme has 
many able friends and foes. Some of the objects, appar- 
ently, cannot be secured without state and municipal action. 
Those who incline to enlarge the powers of the state and 
extend its activity, favor referring the measures to the 
municipality. 

A. Experimental and practical. — Proposed Remedies 
Depending Primarily on Individual Initiative of Capitalists. 

Many of these are described as actually in beneficent 
operation in the United States, by Pidgeon, " Old World 
Questions and New World Answers." In every city the 
employers of labor, influenced both by philanthropy and 
enlightened sense of duty and interest, are improving the 
conditions under which their employes labor. 

Profit - Sharing depends on the good will of capitalists. 
But it seems probable that the lessons of experiments now 
being tried may prove that self- interest is directly involved. 
With the growing power of trades unions, the margin of 
income for superintendence and capital is being cut down 



246 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

to narrow limits, while it is often claimed that there is a 
great fall in the productiveness of labor. If a system could 
be devised by which the workmen would have a direct 
interest in increasing the product, as they now have in 
shortening the hours, raising the pay and diminishing the 
energy of labor, many believe that the capitalists would be 
personally interested in promoting such a scheme. Fortu- 
nately, the experiment is being conducted under favorable 
auspices in all civilized lands, and a happy issue may rea- 
sonably be expected. 

N. P. Gilman, " Profit - Sharing Between Employer and 
Employe. " 

B. Voluntary Cooperation in Purchase and Production 
promises great relief to the multitude of those who live on 
the margin between plenty and necessity. The English 
cooperative societies have shown that there are decided 
advantages in associated efforts to secure good articles at a 
reduced price. In the United States similar efforts have 
been rewarded with a high degree of success, especially 
building and loan associations when operated under care- 
fully devised laws. 

It cannot be said that large bodies of laboring men have 
shown ability to conduct manufacturing enterprises on 
their own account. Hopeful beginnings have been made 
on a small scale, as among Minneapolis coopers, but they 
cannot be regarded as more than harbingers of a better 
day. 

In life insurance, hopeful results have been worked out 
by cooperation in mutual benefit societies ; but here there 
are many dangers and losses, and the whole field requires 
investigation. 

Cairnes' "Some New Principles of Political Economy." 
Baernreither's "English Associations of Workingmen." 



ECONOMICAL. 



247 



History of Cooperation in the United States. (Baltimore, American 
Economic Association; 1888.) 

Holyoake G. J., Manual of Cooperation. J. B. Alden, N. Y. 

H. S. Rosenthal, " Manual for Building and Loan Associations." 

C. D. Wright, "Cooperative Distribution in Great Britain," and 
"Manual of Distributive Cooperation." A. H. D. Ackland, 
" Workingmen Cooperators." T. Hughes and E. V. Neale, " Man- 
ual for Cooperators." C. Barnard, "Cooperation as a Business." 
S. Dexter, " Treatise on Cooperative Savings and Loan Associa- 
tions." 

"Cooperative Credit Associations in Certain Foreign Countries." 
U. S. Department of Agriculture. Miscellaneous Series, No. 3. 
Atlantic Monthly, Feb. 1887 (by R. T. Ely.) Miss Beatrice Pot- 
ter, "The Cooperative Movement." Wood's "English Social 
Movements," Ch. 1. 

Trades Unions aim to secure higher pay, shorter hours 
and improved conditions of labor. They are self-protecting, 
but their tendency is to diffuse the advantages they gain 
for themselves and make these universal and customary. 
Their most devoted and intelligent advocates do not teach 
that these unions have reached their best form or are free 
from serious defects. Their militant organization is a 
temporary effort to meet the military conditions of the 
capitalistic organization of productive enterprise. The 
relative and temporary value of trades unions must be 
estimated in view of the history of past conditions of un- 
organized labor, the situation which confronts them, and 
the possibility of their becoming an agency of common 
welfare. 

On the uses and abuses of Trades Unions see : 

Cairnes' " Some Principles of Political Economy." 
Toynbee's, " Industrial Revolution." 
Baernreither's, " English Associations of Workingmen." 
T. Roger's, " Six Centuries of Work and Wages." 
G. Howell, "The Conflicts of Labor and Capital." 
Woods' " English Social Movements," Ch. I. 



248 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

The Extension of Municipal and State Ownership of mo- 
nopolies is demanded by a growing conviction of our times 
and resisted by a resolute and able school of economists and 
statesmen on grounds both theoretical and practical. 

If efficiency and honesty of management can be secured 
equal to that of individual enterprise it seems to be con- 
ceded that there would be a decreased cost of many neces- 
sities of our civilization, — as lighting, heating, water, street 
transportation, railroad service, telegraph and telephone 
communications, etc. This would be equivalent to an 
increase of income for all the families of a community so 
far as the affected industries are concerned. The only 
question is as to the possibility of securing competent and 
honest public officials to conduct these industries for such 
salaries as the public might be willing to vote them. 

Refer. "A Plea for Liberty," (opposed to extension of state control). 

W. Graham, " Socialism, New and Old." 

S. A. and Mrs. Barnet, " Practicable Socialism." 

W. Donisthorpe, " Individualism, a System of Politics," ( adverse to 

Socialism). 
T. Kirkup, " Inquiry into Socialism." 
Rae, " Contemporary Socialism." 
" Fabian Essays in Socialism." 
S. Webb, " Socialism in England." 
E. de Laveleye, " Socialism of To-day." 
Woods' "English Social Movements," Ch. II. 

Municipal regulations of the physical conditions of health 
and well-being, or cooperation with non-political organiza- 
tions. 

Unsanitary conditions of alleys, streets, houses and 
sewers produce feebleness and sickness, and thus indirectly 
increase pauperism and crime. Private initiative and vol- 
untary organization can combat these evils with a measure 
of success, but the power of the " Collective will " is required 



ECONOMICAL. 24Q 

in dealing with ignorant or selfish landlords, their agents, 
and the degraded occupants of rented tenements. 

Industrial Education has a direct bearing on the earning 
power, and thus on the social status of youth. It is believed 
by an increasing number of competent educators that the 
more general introduction into public schools of sloyd and 
manual training courses, and the establishment of technical 
and trade schools would tend to remove many of the perils 
of pauperism and delinquency. No help can be given to 
people unless it leaves them with increased skill and habits 
favorable to useful industry. It seems reasonable that the 
methods found essential for the reformation of delinquents 
ought to be useful in the normal formation of those who 
are in danger of becoming delinquent. Merely literary and 
mathematical education, without physical and technical dis- 
cipline, cannot be regarded as adequate for the average 
child of industrial communities. Want of skill is the 
immediate cause of failure to secure employment. Said 
the head draughtsman of one of the largest tool-making 
establishments in the country, " Our object is to make 
machines that any fool can use and that no fool can break. " 

Provident Schemes. — Political, philanthropical and coop- 
erative. 

As the possession of property is partial security against 
dependency and delinquency remedial measures must aim 
to foster and encourage thrift. In large cities the savings 
banks perform an important function in gathering the 
small savings of the poor and returning a small rate of inter- 
est. But their usefulness does not extend beyond centers 
of population, and the capital so collected is not available 
for productive cooperative enterprise. In Germany, phil- 
anthrophy has sought to connect the savings of the wage 



25O SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

earner with commercial and manufacturing enterprise; and 
similar experiments are being tried in America. The pro- 
vision of capital and of efficient management must precede 
successful productive cooperation in which wage earners 
share the advantages of capitalists. 

As the very poor are compelled to pay extravagant rates 
of interest when obliged to borrow on such security as they 
can give to pawn-brokers and chattel mortgage brokers, the 
" Provident Loan" plan has been recommended and is 
being tried. In such associations the company accepts the 
security offered to small brokers and content themselves 
with a return of six per cent, on their investment. (Chari- 
ties Review, March and June, 1892.) 

Postal Savings. — In order to extend the advantages of 
the small deposit system to persons to whom the city sav- 
ings banks are not accessible it is proposed to copy the 
English system of government postal savings. On this 
plan almost every postoffice would become a place of 
deposit, ample security would be given by government, and 
the habit and custom of thrift would be cultivated even by 
children and those who otherwise are improvident. 

W. Lewin's History of Postal Savings. 

Edinburg Review, Oct., 1892. 

Chai'ities Review, June, 1892, (Article by J. Wanamaker.) 

Employment Bureaus. — Under the head of Economic 
Amelioration should be considered the means of securing 
employment for those who are involuntarily idle. (See Part 
I, The Unemployed.) 

" Bureaus of Justice " may help to secure wages unjustly 
held back and to protect the poor against voracious and 
unscrupulous money lenders. 



DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 25 I 

Report Boston Association of Charities, 1892, p. 29. 
Additional references ; Woods', " English Social Movements." 
Syllabi of Prof. E. W. Bemis (University of Chicago) on " The 
Labor Question" and "Some Methods of Social Reform." 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 

i. Conditions of Health. — The outward conditions of a 
sound domestic life are — a sufficient economic basis, a 
healthy house in a clean neighborhood, adequate provisions 
for intellectual, aesthetical and spiritual development, and 
the protection of a fair, impartial and intelligent govern- 
ment. The personal conditions of a sound domestic life 
are moral and regular sexual relations in marriage, and the 
rule of affection and its bonds between parents and children. 
These natural bonds must be idealized and purified by the 
infusion of aesthetic, moral, and religious culture, if they 
are to be most pure and permanent. 

2. Pathological Phenomena of Family Life. — When a 
family is impoverished it is a seat and seed of social disease. 
Extreme poverty may arise from the weakness, inefficiency, 
laziness or vices of the parents ; from the fraud or violence 
of external persons ; from the ravages of war, pestilence or 
famine; from the improvements of machinery displacing 
acquired, skill ; from sudden change of an industrial center ; 
from unjust methods of dividing the products of common 
industry ; or from bad government. When a large num- 
ber of families have been reduced to a condition of misery, 
history leads us to expect an increase in beggary, theft, 



252 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

attacks on property, assaults on the person. The educa- 
tion of children is neglected among the proletariat, and 
infant mortality rises to a dreadful height. With growth 
of coarse and cruel impulses come industrial strife and 
political revolutions. When the family is impoverished 
the social body is in peril. 

Relations between parents and children. The natural 
affection of parents and the obedience of children under 
parental care are rudely shaken by the proletariat condition. 
When mothers are compelled to earn the living, and young 
girls g"o too early to the factory, true womanhood is stunted 
and deformed, education is neglected, household order is 
impossible, cleanliness and neatness are unknown, and bit- 
terness engenders violent and anti-social feelings. The 
neglect of children by parents at the other extreme of wealth 
is also notorious, where mothers surrender their offspring 
to ignorant attendants and spoil their own lives in a wild 
round of frivolity and excitement. The allurements of 
unhealthy society lead to a revulsion against the duties of 
maternity, and the means of avoiding those duties are often 
the way to crime. 

Disorder of the relations of the members of the family is 
part of the social malady. Here may be mentioned the 
enforced or voluntary neglect- of marriage at a suitable age. 
From this is certain to arise unnatural sexual vices, prosti- 
tution, crimes against morality, insanity, and serious 
economical disturbances. From precarious livelihood, 
rudeness of manners, cruelty and abandonment arise the 
numerous divorces among laboring people. The growth 
of a set of idle rich young men, near to a population of 
very poor girls, means seduction and ruin, — an evil which 
is condoned in a society where wealth hides a multitude of 
sins under the gay mantle of the title " youthful folly." 



DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 253 

The " regulation " of prostitution is not even a palliative 
remedy, but tends to destroy the moral feelings which 
promise a real cure. Under cover of " legal regulation" 
our " Christian " states offer to lust hecatombs of corrupted 
girls, a more hideous example of human sacrifices than 
those of the heathen. 

Marriages for money are part of the same evil and tend 
to social demoralization, for adultery is a too common 
result. 

Illegitimate children are brought into the world with 
tremendous disadvantages. They are born in unusual peril 
and their rearing is in neglect and shame. (From Schaffle.) 

3. Remedial. — a) As the family is the organization 
through which society is renewed and maintained it has 
been proposed that the state prevent the increase of pauper 
and delinquent members bv the heroic measure of steril- 
ization of incorrigibles. (Boies, " Prisoners and Paupers.") 
The proposition is favored by many eminent writers, and 
is by no means absurd. 

Several considerations, however, should be weighed. In 
the first place it is almost impossible to discuss the subject 
in a way to carry the public without injury. Furthermore, 
mutilation is condemned by modern sentiment and will be 
approved only in most aggravated cases of crime. There- 
fore only inveterate offenders who, probably, have already 
become parents, would be affected by this measure. Only 
a small minority of paupers and delinquents would be 
touched. 

It would appear that this measure, though humane, is 
unnecessary, since it is always in the power of society to 
isolate the incorrigibles and to require them to support 
themselves by productive labor. It has been shown that 
crime may be steadily reduced, as in England, by repres- 



254 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

sive and preventive agencies. And, even if the measure 
under consideration were adopted, these repressive and 
educational efforts would still remain necessary. On the 
whole, therefore, while the proposition is sound, and even 
humane in these days of anaesthetics, it cannot be regarded 
as offering a panacea. It comes too late. 

Social institutions organized to restore the fallen women 
are to be counted among palliative, remedial and prophy- 
lactic agencies. In most cities are found refuges for out- 
cast and ruined girls who desire to abandon their vicious 
career. Foundling Hospitals give temporary relief to 
unmarried mothers and their unwelcome offspring, and 
Maternity Hospitals aid in bringing back hope to the 
desperate. But peculiar obstacles make these agencies 
perilous, and at best they are palliative. 

The National Divorce Reform League is a non-political 
organization, with a basis broader than its name. It makes 
a thorough historic and scientific study of the family, 
diffuses its information, educates public sentiment, influ- 
ences opinion and custom on the subject of marriage 
and domestic virtue, and seeks to modify legislation, both 
state and national. The patrons of this society render a 
valuable service to mankind. 

The preventive and educational work of caring for 
neglected and abandoned children has been considered in 
Part I. 

Dwellings. — The health and morality of a community 
are greatly affected by the condition of the dwellings of 
the poor. It is demonstrable that a " let-alone " policy 
here is destructive. The ignorance, filth and lust of 
crowded families are not self-corrective, and competition of 
landlords, each of whom holds a monopoly of his own 
tract of land, cannot be relied on for improvement. By 



DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 255 

combining voluntary with municipal action it has been 
found possible to improve unhealthy and crowded tene- 
ments. The enforcement of sanitary regulations, govern- 
ing the size of rooms and the conditions of cleanliness, has 
been a distinct help. Syndicates of philanthropists have 
found a reasonable return upon investments by buying up 
such property, improving the houses, and requiring a 
moderate rent. Octavia Hill's great name is conspicuous 
in this connection. In the last resort, municipalities might 
be justified in purchasing the land of infected and depraved 
districts, and assuming the functions of the landlord in 
the common interest. 

Harper's Magazine, April, 1884 (of Octavia Hill). 

Riis, "How the other Half Lives." 

A. T. White, " Improved Dwellings for the Laboring Classes." 

Octavia Hill, " Homes of the London Poor." 

The Family is the primary organ, not only of renewing 
the population, but of transmitting the aesthetic, scientific 
and spiritual culture of the race from generation to genera- 
tion, and from class to class. Whatever the School, the 
Church, the Press, the State can do to enlarge, enrich and 
elevate the family life is returned to each social institution, 
augmented in power and consecrated by tenderest associa- 
tions. All the fundamental forms of knowledge, of accu- 
rate speech, of aesthetic refinement, of moral ideals, of 
religious fervor and exaltation must be wrought into the 
plastic nature of children by parents. The Public School, 
the College, the Church, the Newspaper can never effectually 
give culture to children whose home life is vulgar and 
wicked. 

See the articles of Dr. S. W. Dike (Auburndale, Mass.) and other 
publications of National Divorce Reform League. 



256 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE INSTITUTIONS OF CULTURE, INTELLECTUAL AND 

AESTHETIC. 

This title furnishes us a new point of view. 

1. Health. — It may be said that the fundamental con- 
ditions of social health in this sphere include at least these 
factors : that every member of society have a certain mini- 
mum of education in the elements of learning, and a 
certain degree of preparation for a productive calling ; 
that an increasing number of the more capable members of 
society have higher opportunities of developing their native 
capacities in special courses of higher culture ; that a few 
be supported by private means or at public cost to push 
out upon the frontiers of science and discovery ; that all 
adult members of society have means and opportunity (by 
" University Extension " and Night School methods) of 
securing the wider outlook of the social sciences and 
literature; that the agencies of culture, — Press, Pulpit, 
Parents, — be normally active, and be trained for their 
functions. 

2. Pathological. — There are entire strata of society in 
our great cities where the children are not sent to school. 
If they did go there would not be seating room and teach- 
ing force to supply their wants. The officers charged with 
enforcing the compulsory education law are hindered by 
the ignorance and neglect and hostility of parents. One 
great obstacle in the way of extending the culture of adults 



THE INSTITUTIONS OF CULTURE. 257 

is the length of the working hours. Frequently the dis- 
tance from labor consumes much time and strength. 
Before " University Extension " methods can do much for 
the " laboring classes " the pressure of long hours and 
Sunday work must be relieved. 

In the South and in sparsely settled regions of the West 
educational systems are hindered by the absence of interest 
and curiosity, and by the industrial situation. 

It is generally admitted by educators that our public 
school system is defective in its failure to provide training 
for the hands in connection with literary studies. As 
improvements cost money, and their meaning is not under- 
stood by the average city legislator, progress is very slow. 

3. Signs of Progress. — Already many cities and towns 
have introduced kindergartens, sloyd and manual training 
schools, and trade institutes, either by municipal or 
cooperative action. 

Mr. Ward ("Dynamic Sociology") urges that knowledge 
has little social value until it is generally diffused, and that 
the chief social need is not research but popular instruction 
in what is already known by a few. There are large tracts 
of socially dead information. Many libraries and museums 
are like the Campo Santo — holy cities of the dead. But the 
Chautauqua schools, the University Extension and settle- 
ment methods promise to make a great part of this socially 
dead material a part of the circulating nutriment of the 
social body. The free public library has unrevealed possi- 
bilities in this direction. When lecture courses by ex- 
perienced teachers are clearly connected with them their 
usefulness is vastly enlarged. 

On University Extension, Woods 1 , English Social Movements, Ch. TV. 

" University Extension," by Mackinder and Sadler. 

" The University Extension World," Chicago. 



258 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS, 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

INSTITUTIONS FOR PROMOTING SOCIAL WELFARE. 

There are many social organizations, not directly 
professional, industrial, ecclesiastical or political which 
tend to reduce the evils of dependency and crime, although 
they do not have this for their avowed end. 

1. Societies for Mutual Benefit. — In great cities and 
large towns numerous clubs of working men, women and 
girls are formed for common advantage. They originate 
in churches, mission, " settlements, " like the " Hull House," 
or among the more ambitious members of the wage - earning 
classes. The primary object may be social, musical, liter- 
ary or political. Liable to perversion as they may be, their 
multiplication is, on the whole, a hopeful element of 
modern life. Courtship, for example, is rendered more 
sane and rational when it is conducted in connection with 
refining social influences, of which the lives of the very 
poor and crowded are so barren. It is a disadvantage to 
have clubs for men which destroy family life ; but many 
such organizations promote friendly intercourse of all the 
members of the families in a neighborhood. The churches 
may promote this movement by giving the use of their 
buildings during the week for such wholesome objects. As 
too many such clubs rent of saloons, philanthropy might 
well be joined to business by building and leasing 
suitable halls and offices for a moderate rent to societies of 
this nature. 



FOR PROMOTING SOCIAL WELFARE. 259 

Classification of Mutual Benefit Societies according to 
their ends ; and estimate of their social value according to 
the worth of the end and the adaptation of the means to 
the governing purpose. The name of those social groups 
is legion, for they are many. One society may have many 
objects. Some have a merely local membership and others 
are national in extent. 

Those to which the title " Mutual Benefit" is most 
properly applied have for this organic purpose some form 
of economic advantage, as insurance in case of accident, 
sickness, or death. But thousands of other societies are 
organized by the " social" instinct, which is itself a very 
complex motive composed of many elements. The most 
valuable of these societies are those devoted to the cultiva- 
tion of taste in music, literature, science and social ques- 
tions. Societies organized ostensibly for mutual entertain- 
ment, card playing, dancing, and the like, are sometimes 
turned to more serious purpose by tactful and superior 
minds ; but usually a club will not shoot higher than it 
aims. 

Pathological. — Some of the clubs and societies are means 
of indulgence in vices without interference of law or public 
opinion. Drinking, carousing, gambling and occasionally 
licentiousness are fostered by such associations. Occasion- 
ally associations are formed with distinctly criminal pur- 
poses, but they can hardly exist on any large scale or con- 
tinue for any length of time. 

Where men belong to many lodges, and give much at- 
tention to them, they are frequently led to neglect business, 
domestic duties, philanthrophy, civil, political and religious 
service to the community. This neglect is fostered, in a 
degree, by the tyranny of a phrase, " Benevolent Society" 



260 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

for " Mutual Benefit Society." It is so easy to regard the 
payment of a monthly insurance premium as a gift of good 
will to mankind. This is not an argument against the ex- 
istence but against the abuse of such organizations. 

2. Societies for the Benefit of the Community. — Another 
group of organizations has this common feature, the pur- 
pose of promoting some specific social end. The National 
Red Cross Association, of which Miss Clara Barton is the 
renowned President, is organized to care for public interests 
in times of general social calamities, as in war, flood, famine, 
pestilence. It was founded in 1881. The county fair asso- 
ciations, the state expositions and the vast international 
exposition companies, in varying degrees, seek to promote 
more or less extended interests common to many persons. 

In cities, associations are formed to secure improved 
sewerage, better school privileges, clean streets and alleys, 
to beautify parks and grounds, and effect any object 
which touches the members of the community generally. 
The influence of such efforts on the volume of social evils 
may not be directly perceived, but may be rationally esti- 
mated. Indeed, many social evils, like many physical 
diseases, are prevented or cured more by tonic and food 
than by specific dosing and local applications. The open- 
ing of a large park for a town may appreciably lower the 
rate of infant mortality. 

3. Philanthropic Societies. — Members of one social class 
may combine to help members of a less fortunate social 
class. Their work may be to relieve the distress of depen- 
dents and defectives, to reform and assist the delinquent, 
to prevent the beginnings of social maladies or to promote 
various economic, domestic and educational enterprises. 



POLITICAL. 26l 

Many of these have been mentioned and their methods and 
functions noted in Parts I, II and III. They are so 
numerous and varied that a bare mention of their names, 
with an outline of their organization fill a considerable vol- 
ume in such cities as Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and 
Chicago. They are mentioned here to indicate their place 
as palliative and remedial agencies in a scheme of social 
reform and progress. Their chief good is not in relieving 
temporary distress but in keeping alive social sympathy and 
justice, in laying bare the extent and causes of misery, and 
in conducting society to more radical and efficient methods 
of reform. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

POLITICAL. 

CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 

" He rooted out the slothful officer 
Or guilty, which for bribe had winked at wrong, 
And in their chairs set up a stronger race, 
With hearts and hands, and sent a thousand men 
To till the wastes, and moving everywhere 
Cleared the dark places and let in the law." 

Tennyson, " Geraint and Enid." 

De Greef has shown the relations of the political organs 
and functions to the other organs and functions of society, 
and has illustrated their dependence upon the customs and 
beliefs of the economic, domestic, aesthetic and moral life. 
The political machinery does its work in response to the 
actual habits of conduct and feeling among tradesmen, 
merchants, fathers of families, and members of general 



262 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

society. Statesmen may as teachers influence the conduct 
and opinions of men, but as statesmen they can do nothing 
but register the popular or collective will with a rude 
approximation to accuracy. The legislation in respect to 
commerce has first become custom in trade; and the popular 
view of marriage and divorce determines both law and 
degree of efficacy of law in respect to domestic affairs. 

But it is also true that, by slow and minute increments, 
the judgments and sentiments of the people may be affected 
by legislative measures, as when, through state - collected 
information and state schools, knowledge is diffused among 
the people. And when a certain degree of intelligence 
and morality has become general the outlawed minority 
may be repressed or even partly educated out of their 
relatively inferior position. This is but an example of the 
general principle of society, that each organ is at once both 
means and end, that it is effect and cause. Intelligence 
creates schools, and schools increase and diffuse intelligence. 
Justice creates government, and good government secures 
finer discipline in justice. There is no contradiction here, 
but simply fact and law. 

To describe all the evils of our popular representative 
government and the proposed remedies would be to traverse 
the ground covered by such works as Woolsey's " Political 
Science, " Bryce's " American Commonwealth," De Tocque- 
ville's " Democracy in America," Lieber's " Political Ethics" 
and " Civil Liberty," etc. 

The comprehensive principle in relation to the subjects 
of this work is that injustice in government increases misery 
and crime, while fair and honest administration of wise laws 
tend to remove the causes of these social evils. While this 
summary of the case seems void of contents, it suffices to 
show that we cannot touch a social nerve without commun- 



POLITICAL. 263 

icating with the entire system, giving pain or pleasure. The 
reformation of partisan politics and of municipal govern- 
ment would help reform members of the criminal class. 
The notorious corruption of the city halls provides power- 
ful examples and motives for a life of crime. Civil Service 
Reform is one of many efforts to make the institutions 
of justice a terror to evil doers rather than a social agency 
for rewarding the robbers of society with the spoils of 
office. 

Prophylactic measures to secure political peace and order. — 
The propositions urged by Lombroso ( in La Crime Pol- 
itique et les Revolutions) include almost all the experiments 
offered to secure social peace and political security ; — uni- 
versal suffrage and democratic institutions ; substitution 
of an interest in the business for bare wages ( profit-sharing ); 
productive and distributive cooperation ; provision by asso- 
ciated effort, with capitalistic and state aid, for sickness, 
premature death, old age, and accidents ; societies for 
mutual benefit ; rational socialistic measures, tentatively 
introduced and cautious trial of the most hopeful sugges- 
tions, as prevention or protection of child labor, weekly 
rest, inspection of factories, liberty of striking, gratuitous 
medical assistance, protection of cooperative societies, sub- 
stitution of arbitration for industrial and international war, 
abolition of standing armies, etc ; limitation and taxation 
of inherited and accumulated wealth ; arrangement of sys- 
tems of taxation so that the burdens may fall on those best 
able to bear them ; protection of workmen from injurious 
and unwholesome conditions of toil ; state direction and 
provision for insurance of the poorer classes ; councils of 
conciliation and arbitration, selected from the professions 
interested, and endowed with authority by the state ; emi- 
gration directed and assisted by the state to relieve an over- 



264 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

crowded population ; aid, private and public, for desperate 
need. 

Further measures Lombroso recommends, which require 
the cooperation of private and public agencies ; the regu- 
lation of the alcoholic traffic and war against its evils ; the 
rigorous extermination of all societies whose purpose is to 
commit crime or endanger public order. 

He suggests, with De Greef and others, that an effort 
should be made to have the various trades and professions 
represented in the legislatures, instead of giving to lawyers 
a vast preeminence out of all proportion to their numbers ; 
that minorities should be represented, and that the despotic 
absolutism of majorities should yield to a more just arrange- 
ment of political power ; that the higher education by the 
state should be freed from the despotism of classical tradi- 
tions and time given for such new sciences as biology, 
anthropology, and sociology; that the principles of Froe- 
bel rule in primary instruction, and that manual training 
lead up to technical discipline for the majority of the youth ; 
that the feeble and poor members of society should have 
able advocates at the bar of justice, and so be accustomed 
to feel that the state is friend of all ; and that the right of 
referendum, as known in Switzerland, give to the people at 
large a direct power over the. laws by which they must live. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE CHURCH, THE INSTITUTION OF IDEALS. 

i. The Church of Christ is the chief organ of the King- 
dom ot God. That is its Ideal. And while no historical 
church, local or national, has in any age fulfilled its ideal 



THE CHURCH. 265 

purpose, no other social organization has even approached 
it in efficiency, breadth and spiritual exaltation. It is not 
necessary to depreciate any auxiliary social organ to bring 
honor to this, and it is not wise or honest to ignore the 
follies and the crimes committed in the name of religion 
either by hypocrites or fanatics. The value of the normal 
service of the church will be estimated very much according 
to the view held of the teachings for which it stands. To 
those who regard all religion as a transitory superstition or 
unverifiable " metaphysics," all worship and religious teach- 
ing must seem to be so much waste of time and wealth which 
ought to be turned to social account. This is not the place 
to consider this position. Writers on Christian Apologetics 
and on Christian Theology and Philosophy, together with 
the Christian poets, have furnished such evidence of the 
reality and value of the Faith as can be placed in human 
language. There are others who have no care for the reli- 
gious truths and hopes of the Church, who value it for its 
services in relation to charity, education and social progress^ 
They are willing to give, sometimes very cheerfully, their 
aid to the churches because of these services. 

Believers in Christianity will continue to hold, what is 
here taught, that the spiritual contents of this Faith are, 
in themselves, the supreme good of mankind, and generally 
it will be seen that a social organization for the expansion 
and propagation of spiritual truth is reasonable and neces- 

sarv. 

j 

But the very fact that the religious life has brought 
together powerful social organizations implies correspond- 
ing responsibilities. Power means duty, and duty is deter- 
mined for the church by its creed of love and by the needs 
of the world in which it is planted. It is not conceivable 
that a church can exist with such a creed and not feel under 



266 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

obligations to use all practicable means of diminishing the 
evils connected with pauperism, misery and crime. The 
unrest of conscience, the sense of glaring inconsistency 
between creed and deed, and the pressure of educated com- 
munities forces the church to take hold of the " social prob- 
lem." 

That the churches have become conscious of the neces- 
sity of helping men physically and socially in order to bring 
them into the Kingdom of God is shown by the universal 
modern movement of living Christian societies toward 
philanthropic work. No man ever became a leader in the 
church who had a stronger faith in bare preaching than 
Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, and yet his appreciation of the mean- 
ing of the New Testament made his church the center of a 
vast scheme of charities. Many Englishmen complain, 
however, that he cut off his work from the work of others, 
and by isolation weakened other social movements without 
enlarging his own. But there can be no question that he 
saw clearly that Christianity is meant to touch all human 
need. Woods says of the English Church: "There is 
probably not a single church of the establishment in any 
working-class district in London but that has definitely 
abandoned the plan which makes a church merely an asso- 
ciation of people for the culture and spread of the religious 
life." It would be strange if the professed followers of 
Him who healed disease and fed hunger should regard 
the temporal needs of society as beneath the dignity of 
religion. 

Freemantle, "The World the Subject of Redemption;" Mackenzie, 
"Social Philosophy;" D. J. Hill's "The Social Influence of Chris- 
tianity;" Martensen's Ethics; Paulsen, "Die Ethik ;" Schaffle, 
" Bau und Leben ;" Woods' English Social Movements ; Baptist 
Congress Rep., 1892; C. L. Brace, "Gesta Christi ;" R. S. Storrs, 
" Divine Origin of Christianity." 



THE CHURCH. 267 

The service of mere relief of physical wants is a small 
part of the future social work of the church. In modern 
nations the state has taken over much of this relief work, and 
the church is a distributor of only a small part of the total 
alms of the community. Organized charities and state 
supervision are needed even to prevent abuses of ecclesias- 
tical charity. As wealth is more diffused and the economic 
condition of workingmen rises church patronage will be 
resented as an insult rather than hailed as a blessing and a 
kindness. The church will be compelled to touch the aver- 
age man at a higher level of his nature or lose contact with 
him. The laborer will not ask so much for bread as for 
books, for leisure to read, for social justice, for a hearing, 
for a voice in control, for democracy in social fellowship. 
He will abhor " missions" more and more, and spurn 
advances of the self-styled " superior classes." Thus, 
while there will long be use for Salvation Army and "slum" 
work, the really great social work of the church in the 
future will lie in personal fellowship on terms of equality 
in genuine churches where the best talent is employed. 
And this advance movement is necessary to save the church 
from extinction and the people from slow but sure descent 
to a godless social state, without a sky and without a moral 
ideal. 

The transformation of city life, morally and religiously, 
waits on the Church of Christ. There must be a general 
and carefully planned readjustment of population. It is 
essential that there should be in every neighborhood a few 
residents who are willing and able to stimulate the higher 
life and help the people fight their battles for health, soci- 
ability, beauty, culture, order, and faith. This work can- 
not be done at long range, nor by hired missionaries. It 
must be done by men and women, filled with the religious 



268 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

spirit, who are known in each neighborhood as belonging 
to it, suffering with its suffering, personally interested in 
having its alleys clean, its sewage in order, its atmosphere 
pure, its politics honest and efficient. Such leaders would 
find many humble and unlettered folk ready to gather about 
them and recognize them as friends and equals. The peo- 
ple must rise by their own endeavors, and must create and 
maintain their own institutions. If each rich, strong church 
would plant small colonies of suitable persons, perhaps 
sometimes without children, in dangerous localities, their 
influence on the conditions of life would soon be felt. 
Those who undertook the work would find a mission which 
would give worth and dignity to their existence. Such a 
career would not require money as much as intelligence 
and enthusiasm for humanity. The people would generally 
support the work themselves. The suggestion is not 
Utopian, because it has already been joyfully acted upon by 
many people in many cities. Toynbee Hall in London, Miss 
Dodge's work for girls in New York, Miss Adams' " Hull 
House" in Chicago are simply signs of a social movement 
into which thousands of well - equipped persons have already 
entered. 

So far as these social measures advance the well - being 
of the Progressive Class, they are not to be considered here. 
But there is not one of them which does not, at least indi- 
rectly, tend to diminish the number and the influence of 
the Dependent, Defective and Delinquent Classes. Indeed, 
when we regard the whole of society and its vast future, we 
see that these preventive and educational measures are the 
only ones which give satisfactory promise of bringing these 
forms of misery to an utter end. How great this hope is, 
depends largely on one's own temperament and on his 
religious or philosophical beliefs. An optimism which looks 



THE CHURCH. 269 

for the end of pauperism and deformity without patient, 
earnest and prolonged effort and sacrifice, is an optimism 
not justified by history, and it is practically both foolish 
and wicked. But the relative success already attained in 
every branch of remedial, preventive and educational effort 
of philanthropy gives rational ground for a sober hope, a 
burning zeal and a deathless strife with error, pain, disease 
and pauperism. 

The treatment of these special and forlorn members of the 
race is a part of the universal movement of human history. 
If we regard these classes as the foot, down in the mire, 
we may so far adopt the figure as to say that the foot is 
still a member of the social body ; that while the foot suffers 
all the members suffer with it ; and that until the foot is 
extracted from the mire, the head will be hindered in its 
journey of progress. May we not partly explain the frequent 
outbursts of savage traits in the refined circles of society — as 
bestial lust and drunkenness, selfish greed, barbaric osten- 
tation, fondness for display, murderous indifference to the 
suffering of employes — by the near presence of a neglected 
portion of the human family? The hovels of neglected 
paupers furnish the nidus for germs of plague, and in the 
same hovels are prepared moral temptations for the sons of 
the elect. The atomistic notion of society, which regards 
each individual as a separate unit with whom we have no 
relations, is only evil and cause of evils. To prevent 
dependency and to diminish the number of defectives, 
society must learn to move together and work all its insti- 
tutions of school, family, church and state in conscious 
harmony toward a purposed end. 

Relation of our Subject to Philosophy and Religion. — 
Pessimism and agnosticism deny that we really know that 



270 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

the "ground" of the world's life is the Ideal One — per- 
fectly holy, just, good : the will that wills for us all perfect 
happiness, beauty and goodness. But none can deny that 
we possess the ideal, for the denial itself must restate the 
ideal. We have traversed in these lectures the most diffi- 
cult and rocky regions, the darkest valleys, the most sombre 
caverns of human experience. We have analyzed and meas- 
ured with such precision and completeness as statistics and 
other special sciences can furnish the saddest elements of 
human life. And even here, when faith and philosophy 
alike pass into eclipse, we have discovered facts which point 
to the ultimate justification of man's noblest beliefs. Human 
beings once regarded and treated as hopeless idiots, wild 
and soulless brutes or demonized outlaws, are now regarded 
and treated as human brethren, capable of gaining thought, 
love, happiness and beauty. 

It is the faith in the unseen ideal which has given the 
courage and the patience of Howe, Wilbur and the other 
uncanonized saints of our age. The evolution of the race, 
the victory over evil, the prospect for the entire disappear- 
ance of the pauper and defective stock, the very hope itself 
born of past achievements, indicate that we are moving 
toward an age when it will be far easier to hold unqestion- 
ing and unclouded faith in the absolute and eternal truth, 
love and beauty of God. To this highest achievement of 
reason all the special sciences contribute — sociology among 
them — and the arts of life serve in the same rational min- 
istry toward the same end. 

The conclusion of our own studies is practically this : 
We are not merely to medicate and dress an ever open sore 
of pauperism and insanity and idiocy and crime, but to cure 
it. It is in that faith we began our lectures with the ideal 
of a divine kingdom, with increased faith we close. Dante 



THE CHURCH. 2f\ 

passed through Inferno and Purgatory, and came out at 
last into the effulgent glory of Paradise. Dante's sublime 
song is the story of human history : believe ; love ; act. 

" Take heart ! The Waster builds again ; 
A charmed life old goodness hath. 
The tares may perish, but the grain 
Is not for death." 

" God works in all things, all obey 
His first propulsion from the night ; 
Wake thou and watch ! the world is gray 
With morning light." 

" Aid the dawning, tongue and pen ; 
Aid it, hopes of honest men ; 
Aid it paper, aid it type ; 
Aid it, for the hour is ripe ; 
But our earnest must not slacken 

Into play ; 
Men of thought and men of action, 

Clear the way !" 



THE WORLD'S AGE. 

" Who will say the world is dying ? 
Who will say our prime is past ? 
Sparks from Heaven, within us lying, 
Flash, and will flash to the last. 
Fools ! who fancy Christ mistaken ; 
Man a tool to buy and sell ; 
Earth a failure, God forsaken, 
Ante - room of hell. 

Still the race of hero - spirits 
Pass the lamp from hand to hand ; 
Age from age the Word inherits 
'Wife, and Child, and Fatherland.' 



272 SOCIAL HYGIENE AND THERAPEUTICS. 

While a slave bewails his fetters ; 

While an orphan pleads in vain ; 

While an infant lisps his letters, 

Heir of all the age's gain ; 

While a lip grows ripe for kissing ; 

W T hile a moan from man is wrung : 

Know, by every want and blessing, 

That the world is young." C. Kingsley. 



THE END. 



INDEX 



Administration, of Insane Hos- 
pitals, 82. 

Adultery, Roman Law, 160. 

Aim of this work, 1. 

Anderson, M. B., 30. 

Anthropology of Criminals, phys- 
ical, 118; psychical, 125. 

Argot, 126. 

Art, a source of knowledge, 6. 

Arrest, law of 185, 194. Substi- 
tutes for, 227. 

Associations of Charities, 63. 

Associations of Criminals, 138. 

Aesthetic characteristics of Crim- 
inals, 130. 

Asylums, for children, 72 ; for the 
insane, 82. 

Atavism (reversion), 20 ; in crime, 

US- 
Barbarism, 144. 
Beccaria's principles, 172. 
Benefit of Clergy, 176. 
Bertillon system, 210, 214. 
Benevolent Societies, 258. 
Biological factors of crime, 1 13. 
Blackstone, 177. 
Blind, the, 99. 
Boards of Health, 49. 
Booth, General, scheme of, 244. 
Boies, "Prisoners and Paupers," 

253. 
Brain, of criminals, ill. 



Brockway, Z. R., 107, 207, 215. 

Bureaus of Justice, 250. 

Byers, A. G., 203. 

Capital punishment, in the Roman 
Law, 158, 159. England, 178. 
Objections to, 215. 

Categories of inspection, 53. 

Causes of Dependency, 17.- 

Charity organization, 63. 

Children, dependent, 69. Protec- 
tion of law, 190. 

Christianity, softens the Roman 
code, 160. Modern influence, 
170. 

Church, corruption of, 28 ; early 
church charity, 42, 60. Crimes 
against, 167. Institution of 
Ideals, 270. 

Cities, crowded, 236. 

Civil Service Reform, 261. 

Classification, 13. 

Clergy, Benefit of, 176. 

Climate and crime, 112. 

Coffin, C. F., on crime causes, 115. 

Coldwater State Public School, 72. 

Collins, C. A., 194. 

Colony, of insane, 84. 

Compensation, in crime, 165. 

Compulsion, 188. 

Comprehensiveness, 34. 

Cooperation, in purchase and pro- 
duction, 246. 



273 



274 



INDEX 



Corporations, rights and wrongs, 

173. 

Crowding, cities, 236. 

Criminals, classified, 103. Their 
rights, 171. 

Criminal, insane, 89. Political, 
104. By passion, 106. Occas- 
ional, 106. Habitual, 106. Pro- 
fessional, 107. Instinctive, 107. 

Crime and its social treatment, 
102. Causes, in. Defined, 103, 
185. Historical, 141. Elements 
of, 186. Classified acts, 189. 

Cost, financial and moral, of the 
depressed classes, 10 — 13. 

County poor house, 50. Jail, 206. 

County, care of insane, 82. 

Deaf, the, 99. 

Debtors, 173. 

Dements, 97. 

Dependents, defined, 5, 14; home- 
less, 54. 

Detention of witnesses, etc., 21 1. 

Disease, cause of pauperism, 20. 

Diseases, social, 232. 

District Workhouses, 206. 

Dispensaries, 49. 

Divorce Reform League, 254. 

Domestic causes of pauperism, 23. 

Domestic, helps and hindrances, 
251. 

Drunkards, insane, 90. 

Duels, 106. 

Du Cane, E. F., 201. 

Dugdale, Mr., 6, 11. Classification 
of criminals, 109. 

Dwellings, of the poor, 254. 

Ecclesiastical causes of pauperism, 
28. 



Economic causes of crime, 116. 
Health and disease, 237. 

Education and crime, 114. Of the 
public, 230. Preventive of crime, 
etc., 256. Industrial, 257. 

Educational defects, 24. Charities, 
61. 

Ellis, H., 119. 

Ely, Professor R., 11. 

Elmira Reformatory, 208. 

Employment Bureaus, 55, 250. 

Emotional characteristics of crimi- 
nals, 131. 

Environment, 22. 

Endowed charities, 61. 

English Poor Law, 41, 68. Crimi- 
nal Law, 164. Prison System, 

197. 
Epidemics of crime, 139. 
Epileptics, 97. 
Experiments, social, 245. 
Extradition, 183. 
Face, of criminals, 121. 
Family, unit of society, 24. Perils 

and hopes, 251. 
Family government, early Aryan, 

157. 
Feeble-minded, 92. 
Felton, C. E., on crime causes, 115. 
Feudal Justice, 168. 
Fiction, as help to study, 7, 235. 
Fish, Dr. \V. B., 95. 
Foundlings, 70, 254. 
Fowle, "The Poor Law," 37, 68. 
France, poor relief, 40. 
Freedom of will, 117. 
Gamblers, 107, 130. 
Gauckler, M. E., 196. 
George, Henry, 242. 



INDEX. 



275 



Germanic codes, 164. 

Germany, poor relief, 4c. 

Gheel, insane colony, 84. 

Governmental causes of pauper- 
ism, 26. 

Grace, a social element, 195. 

Greece, poor relief, 39. 

Gundry, Dr., 98. 

Harris, W. T., 194. 

Hart, H. H., II. 

Health, Boards of, 49. 

Hebrew, crime treatment, 148. 

Heredity, acquired characteristics, 
114. 

Heredity of evil, 13, 17. Check- 
ing, 229, 253. 

Heresy, as crime, 167. 

History of treatment of crime, 141. 

Homeless dependents, 54. 

Hospitals, 46. 

Housing of the poor, 23. 

Humane sentiment, 170. 

Hurd, Dr., 48. 

Hygiene, social, 232. 

Hypnotism, 140. 

Ideals, social, 33, 264. 

Idiots and imbeciles, distinguished, 

93- 
Identification of criminals, 224. 

Immigration, 29, 230. 

Immortality, inspiration of hope, 
96. 

Imprisonment in England, 179. 

Incorrigibles, 214. 

Indians of America, 143. 

In - door relief, 38. 

Industrial conditions, 24. Educa- 
tion, 249. 

Industrial Homes, 207. 



Inebriate asylums, 91. 

Infant hospitals, 70. 

Infanticide, 70, 160. 

Insanity, 78. Causes, 79. County 

care, 82. 
Insensibility, of criminals, 124, 132. 
Inspection, 53. 
Instinctive criminals, 119. 
Insurance, by government, 242. 
Interest of the subjects, 2. 
Italy, poor relief, 40. 
Jail, County, 206. 
Judges, power of discretion, 184. 
"Jukes, The," 11, 19, 
Jurisdiction, 182. 
Justice, bureaus of, 250. 
Justinian codes, 157. 
Juvenile offenders, 190, 227. 
Kellogg, M., 11. 
Kerlin, Dr. J. W., 95. 
Kindergartens, 257. 
Kingdom of God, 34. 
Labor in prisons, 217. 
Ladd, Professor, 32. 
Law, of insanity, 86, and morality, 

103. Of crime, origin, 153. 

Civil and criminal, 155. Of 

nations, 159. 
Letchworth, Seventeen proposi- 
tions, 75. 
Letourneau, 135. 
Licentiousness, cause of pauperism, 

20. 
Literature of criminals, 128, 139. 
Lombroso, 113, 1 19, 126, 128, 140, 

263. 
Lowell, Mrs., 66. 
Lynch law, 106. 
McCulloch, Rev. O., 6, 11. 



276 



INDEX. 



McDonald, A. P., 3, 119. 
Manual training, 24, 257. 
Martinea-u, J. O., 32. 
Mediaeval Crime, 168. 
Medical Charities, 46. 
Method of this work, 2. 
Michigan system, care of children, 

72. 
Mill, J. S., 37. 
Minor offenses, 193. 
Modern progress in treatment of 

crime, 171. 
Moral causes of dependency, 27. 
Morality and Law, 103. 
Motives of reformation, 216. 
Municipal ownership, 248. 
Mutual Benefit Societies, 258. 
Nationalization of land, 242. 
National statistics, 69. 
Norris, Dr. J., 98. 
Nurses, training schools for, 49. 
Observation of social facts, 6. 
Ohio, employment bureaus, 55. 
Organization of charities, 63. 
Old Age pensions, 243. 
Organic connection of classes, 14, 

33- 

Orphanages, 72. 

Out -door relief, 38, 43. 

Paralytics, 97. 

Paternal power in Rome, 157. 

Patronage societies, 214, 225. 

Pauperism, defined, 5 ; hereditary, 
19. 

Penal Law, principles of Inter- 
national Association, 180. 

Penitentiary, 21 1. 

Pensions, old age, 243. 

Philosophy, of criminals, 129. 



Physicians, city and county, 49. 

Placing -out system, 73. 

Philosophy in social reform, 269. 

Police, 203. Police Station, 205. 

Political progress, 261. 

Poorhouse, children in, 71. 

Popular view of insanity, 85. 

Population and Territory, 236. 

Postal Savings, 250. 

Poor House, 50. 

Prevention, of crime, 224. 

Prisoners' Aid, 214, 225. 

Prisons, Hebrew, 151. Modern 
reforms in, 175. English, 179, 
197. Of United States, 203. 
Education of officers, 212. 
Labor systems, 219 — 221. 

Private charity, cooperating with 
public, 52 ; individual, social, 
church, etc., 58. 

Procedure, criminal law, 154. Late 
Roman, 161. Modern, 174. 

Profit-sharing, 245. 

Progressive class, 14. 

Protection, an end of punishment, 
194. 

Provident schemes, 249. 

Punishments, modern, 174, 213. 
End or purpose of, 194. Obso- 
lete, 196. 

Public relief, 35, seq. 

Records, aid to study, 7, 

Retrogressive classes, 14. 

Reformation, an end of punish- 
ment, 194. 

Receivers of stolen goods, 192. 

Reformatory, State Prison, 207. 

Reform Schools, 207. 

Registration of criminals, 224. 



INDEX. 



277 



Religious ideals, 34, 269. 
Religious sentiments of criminals, 

132. 
Remedies, social, 232. 
Responsibility in insanity, 87. 

Legal, for crime, 108. 
Retribution, an end of punishment, 

194. 
Revenge, lex talionis, 149, 150, 194, 
Reversion, in crime, 113. 
Roman Penal Code, 157. 
Rosenau, N, S., 66. 
Rose Orphan Home, 72. 
Round, W. F. M., 11. 
Salvation Army, 244. 
Sanborn, F. B., 11, 39. 
Savages, treatment of crime, 143. 
Schools, 24. 
Scouller, J. D., 94. 
Seasons and crime, 112. 
Separation in prisons, 211. 
Sex in crime, 136. 
Sin as crime, 150, 156. 
Skulls of criminals, 119. 
Slang of criminals, 126. 
Socialism, 239. 
Social sciences, how related, 8. 

Social "body," 232. Sources of 

knowledge, 6. 
Societies, benevolent, relief, 59. 

National and International, for 

crime, prisons, etc., 180. 
Statistics, necessarv, 8. Of pau- 



perism, defectives, criminals, 10 

— 11. 
State relief, arguments . for and 

against, 35. Control of private 

charities, 62. Central board of 

prisons, 211. 
Tattooing, 130. 
Temperature and crime, 112. 
Tenements, of the poor, 23, 25. 
Theft, Teutonic code, 165. 
Trades unions, 25, 247. 
Tramps, 56. 
Tucker, Professor, 11. 
Twelve Tables, 158. 
Typical cases, 15, 
University Extension, 256. 
Utopias, 239. 
Vices and crimes, 137. Pauperism, 

33- 

Ward, L. F., 32. 

Wayland, 1 1 6, 1 17. 

Weissmann, acquired character- 
istics, 114. 

Wehrgeld, 165. 

Welfare, social, conditions, 236, seq. 

Wells, D. A., 12. 

Will, freedom of, 32, 117. 

Wines, F. H., 37, 68, 96, 117. 

Wisconsin, care of insane, 82. 

Women, criminals, 136. Reforma- 
tory for, 210. 

Workhouses, District, 206. 

Wright, C. D., 218. 



MAR 18 1901 



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